The Black Rose
by Kathryn Hart
Summary: On a cold, dark night on a planet far, far away from Earth, Rose Tyler makes a choice: to forget her love of the Doctor and see him only as a friend. And when a powerful sorcerer helps her make that choice, there's no going back. Too bad the spell required more than Rose knew she had to give...Doctor/Rose Drama/Romance/Angst/Hurt/Comfort Rated T for dark content and language
1. Prologue - Doubts

**_Summary: On a cold, dark night on a planet far, far away from Earth, Rose Tyler makes a choice: to forget her love of the Doctor and see him only as a friend. And when a powerful sorcerer helps her make that choice, there's no going back. Too bad the spell required more than Rose knew she had to give..._**

 ** _Characters: Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler, Martha Jones, Jack Harkness, Donna Noble, among others..._**

 ** _Genre: Drama/Romance/Angst/Hurt/Comfort_**

 ** _Timeline Setting: Series 2 Right before Army of Ghosts/Doomsday_**

 ** _A/N: Hi guys, got another rollercoaster of a fic here, so be prepared! This story is already finished on my computer so expect regular updates, probably twice a week. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoy! Y'know, if you enjoy drama...~Katy_**

* * *

 _ **The Black Rose  
by Kathryn Hart**_

 **Prologue  
** " _Feels like the weight of the world,  
Like all my screaming has gone unheard.  
And oh, I know you don't believe in me.  
Safe in the dark, how can you see?_

 _Freefall, freefall, all through life..."  
~Evanescence_

Rose Tyler flopped herself down wearily on her bed and stared at the blank ceiling above her. She was depressed and harboured doubts about her current choices and traveling companion. Back in her old life whenever she felt like this, usually about Jimmy or her going-nowhere life, she'd head down to her favorite pub with Shareen and a couple other mates after work and drink her sorrows long into the night. It seemed to do the job. But now...just laying in her room in the TARDIS would have to do. She didn't even have any alcohol, and she doubted she could get her hands on any without the Doctor noticing.

She'd been feeling like this for months, but lately it seemed to have escalated. She guessed it all started with meeting Sarah Jane and the journalist's harsh words towards her, like she was some sort of dumb, blonde assistant rather than the Doctor's best friend and confidant (why didn't he deny those claims rather than just telling her someday she'd die and he'd have to go on without her?). And then the Doctor abandoning her and Mickey on a dying space ship for some king's mistress. Was that some sort of punishment for letting Mickey tag along? Both her and Mickey knew by then that their relationship had died the moment she stepped foot in the TARDIS, but did the Doctor know that?

It didn't matter anyway. There was no chance, not in a million years that he'd ever have eyes for her. There had been a little hope, back when he thought the world of her and never abandoned her. He did send her away once, but he, at least she hoped he did, had done it to keep her safe. But then he had regenerated and now he didn't give a damn about her safety. And it wasn't just about Reinette or Sarah Jane. He had let her walk straight into a Cybermen factory with barely a word to stop her. He had run off and left her alone in a home with a man dealing with clear anger issues. The Doctor had chosen to fall into a deep endless pit that housed the devil (yeah, actually the devil), with the highest possibility of killing himself just to satisfy his curiosity which was clearly more important than her safety. He hadn't batted an eye when he went off to save the Olympics, letting her think he was dead and on her own, forever. Not even a phone call.

Somewhere in her mind she knew she was being a bit harsh and dramatic but at the moment, she just wanted to release every single doubt she'd ever had this past year and get a bit angry about it.

She didn't mind that he gave her more independence and trusted her more to get the job done, but recently it felt more and more like he didn't care about what her opinion might be before he did something stupid. Or even that he didn't care if something bad happened to her.

That of course, was ridiculous, but when stacked against the evidence? If he couldn't have gotten back to the space ship, if he had died defeating the Beast, if her face had been lost forever or her brain removed by metal men, what was she supposed to do? She had always been in danger, that she didn't mind, and never had. But it always caused her to wonder if her past Doctor would be appalled at just how much danger this Doctor let her get into. She missed that feeling of being protected. Of being treated like something worth keeping.

Rose felt like she had had enough, but what could she do? Her mother had been the one to give her advice about Jimmy, back then she didn't want to listen. Her relationship to Jimmy Stone was startlingly similar to what she was going through now. Of course the Doctor never verbally abused her as her ex had, but Jimmy had also been a no-go on the showing emotion towards her level. Now Jackie's words resonated in her head.

 _"A man that loves you wouldn't treat you like that Rose. You need to back out before you get your heart broken and find someone who actually shows that he loves you. Like Mickey. He's loved you for ages y'know."_ She'd scoffed at that at the moment, but of course, Jackie had been right back then about the first part, and Rose suspected she was right now too.

But she couldn't leave him, that was out of the question. He was the last of the Time Lords and needed someone to keep him grounded, no matter how much he denied the fact.

No, there had to be another way. And if there wasn't, well, she might have to take more desperate measures.

* * *

 **Yes, Rose has doubts that aren't exactly true (or are they?). I wanted to explore the way Ten seemed to treat her differently than Nine did and how Rose would react to that. We'll see the Doctor's side of the story in a couple chapters, after everything culminates to a very different ending to series 2. PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ME IT'S JUST FOR THE FIC. I ADORE TEN.**

 **Yeah yeah I know, super short, but chapter one will be up in a few days. Please review! :)**


	2. 1 - The Spell

**I got the idea for this fic over three years ago when I first watched the season 1 17th episode of "Once Upon a Time", where Snow White asks Rumpelstiltskin to make her forget Prince Charming and subsequently forgets how to love. But I didn't start writing this until a couple months ago by which I had totally forgotten about the inspiration until I was finished, which is clear because I take a completely different route than the tv show. Also highly coincidental because I was going to call this fic "Heart of Darkness" rather than "The Black Rose", which is the same name as the OuAT ep.**

 **Songs referenced in this fic are _"Weight of the World"_ by Evanescence and _"What Have You Done"_ by Within Temptation feat. Keith Caputo. I couldn't choose just one, they both fit so perfectly.**

 **Thanks for the support so far!**

* * *

 _Rose felt like she had had enough, but what could she do? "A man that loves you wouldn't treat you like that. You need to back out before you get your heart broken." But she couldn't leave him, that was out of the question. He was the last of the Time Lords and needed someone to keep him grounded, no matter how much he denied the fact. No, there had to be another way. And if there wasn't, well, she might have to take more desperate measures..._

 **Chapter One - The Spell**

 _"Would you mind if I hurt you?_  
 _Understand that I need to_  
 _Wish that I had other choices_  
 _than to hurt the one I love...  
What have you done now?"  
~Within Temptation_

"Welcome to Valitosa Five!" The Doctor exclaimed, waving his hands about like a showman. Rose sighed but still couldn't hold back a hum of excitement. Although the small rural village wasn't that impressive, it was still alien and had the potential to be entertaining enough, at least for a few hours. It was late in the day, and if this place was anything like Earth, the inhabitants would be getting ready to turn in soon. Rose watched the Doctor closely as he sniffed the air and wiggled his ears. He must have noticed something weird because immediately he pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver and began waving it around. He stepped forward a few paces and turned in a complete circle.

"Can't you hear it Rose? There's some sort of vibration in the air."

"No." She was still preoccupied by her earlier thoughts.

"Well, that's because it's too quiet for you to hear, my advanced hearing must have caught it." The Doctor didn't notice Rose wasn't really paying attention to him and began to walk forward. Rose followed him a short distance behind. The villagers around them didn't pay much notice, which was odd, but maybe they were used to visitors, strange ones at that. Rose's eyes caught something interesting as they were walking. She fell behind and watched the Doctor continue forward, oblivious. She was just around the corner where two alien men with grey skin and facial tattoos were talking in hushed whispers behind a hut.

 _"And he'll be here tonight."_

 _"The Sorcerer?"_

 _"Keep your voice down! You know he only takes one case a year, and I need to get there first."_

 _"Is it true the Sorcerer can grant any wish?"_

 _"Yes. I need a Jilchon desperately, maybe then I can pay off my debts to Coordinator Silnah."_ Rose listened as they continued to talk. Some of the words meant nothing to her but she got the gist of it.

At just before midnight, by the pier south on the outskirts of the village, the Sorcerer would be there with the power to grant any wish. Rose debated telling the Doctor, but this could be her chance. Maybe this witch could help her with her problem. But how to get there without the Doctor following her? She straightened up as she saw the Doctor was walking back towards her, finally noticing she had fallen behind.

"Oh, just...tying my shoe." She gestured down to her sneakers. The Doctor nodded, believing her. Why wouldn't he? She'd never had a reason to lie to him before. Until now.

"C'mon, there's something definitely wrong with this place, and we need to find what it is."

"Shouldn't we split up? That way we can find out what's going on faster."

"Brilliant! As you always are, my Rose!" He grabbed her face and kissed her forehead. He then took off in an eastern direction.

"Meet at the TARDIS after midnight?" Rose shouted after him.

"Midnight!" He shouted back in reply. Rose looked at the clock on her cell. It was nine p.m. and already starting to get dark. She figured she'd go down to the pier at quarter till and get what she needed to get done before the Doctor suspected what she was really up to. The only danger was the Doctor hearing about the Sorcerer before then, but this town was pretty hush about it anyway so she might just get away with this.

* * *

At 11:40, Rose snuck away and made her way down south to the docks she had found earlier in the day. It was nearly pitch black and Rose had a hard time seeing where she was going. She debated pulling her cell phone out so she could use the dim light of the screen but thought better. She didn't want to be spotted now, not when she was so close. The area ahead of her was a wooded forest, but she trusted her memory enough to know that it was only a short distance until she reached the pier.

As she neared, she heard a twig snap in front of her. Ducking behind a tree, she used the light of the small moon that was nearly obscured by clouds to see what it was. It wasn't a lot of light but it was enough to recognize that it was one of the men who she had been eavesdropping on earlier. On closer inspection she saw it was not the man who wanted the Jilchon or whatever it was, but the other man. His friend was going to be pissed if he knew that he was trying to beat him there. The tattoos on his face and scowling eyes gave him a menacing look in the dark light.

Rose pulled a small dart out of a pouch in her pocket. The Doctor had given her three of them, telling her they were knock-out darts, strong enough to bring down a Klyberian rhinoceros but not fatal to other humanoids. These would have been handy the time they really were chased by a certain alien rhino, but no, he hadn't given her these until after that certain incident. Because of that certain incident in fact.

She tiptoed up to the man and stuck him in the neck with the dart. She stepped backwards quickly as he toppled forward. She retrieved her dart quickly and put it back in the pouch, not wanting to leave any incriminating evidence behind for someone else to find.

The blonde stood there for a second, listening for any other signs of movement. Nothing. Maybe the two men were the only ones to know of this meeting. Or more likely, the others were too afraid of this mysterious Sorcerer's powers. As she neared the lake, it began to get just a little bit brighter, like the lake was shining with an eerie blue glow. Fog rolled and gathered on the completely-still water, only enhancing the level of mysteriousness. Rose looked up and was a bit spooked to see the clouds parting over the lake to reveal a full moon, slightly more blue than the moon she was used to.

She spotted the dock and stopped. There, surrounded by a shroud of mist, was a small boat, the only boat on the water. How did he get his boat in here if there was no outlet? She thought it was just a dock for viewing the lake, but she guessed she must have been wrong. A figure stood on the dock next to his tied up craft, a hood covering his features. His side was facing her but she could tell he knew she was approaching.

"Step forward child." His voice was low and enticing. Rose walked up slowly, her footsteps making a soft thumping on the wooden steps under her. She couldn't make out the face as he turned towards her, but she couldn't go back now. Soon she stood about a meter in front of him. She tried not to regret coming here alone.

"You must be desperate if one so young has come to me for help, of all people."

"I am." Her voice nearly faltered. She swallowed and gathered up her courage to stand straighter. It seemed to help. "I am," she repeated, this time stronger.

"Ah," the dark wizard let out a noise that sounded like a chuckle. Was he patronizing her? "Let me guess, your request has to do with someone...someone you love." Rose nodded, still not completely trusting her voice. "He does not love you?"

"I am merely a friend in his eyes." It hurt to say it out loud, but from the evidence she had been given, it was true. "I mean, I thought I meant more to him, long ago, but not anymore. But that is not the problem."

"It's not? You don't want this man to love you in return?"

"No." It was a lie, but the truth was that she didn't want to do anything that could potentially hurt him or change him. She loved him enough not to bring him into this. "No, _I_ don't want to love him."

"Mm." He made a noncommittal sound. "For a second I feared the former. This will be much easier." He pulled a vial out of his pocket. The contents inside were liquid, a black color that swirled around and around like an animal, like something alive. She felt a shiver crawl down her spine, but she didn't waver. This was her last resort and she couldn't turn back now.

"Is there a price?" Rose didn't know what he required, but she would do all in her power to get that vial. She reached into her pocket and gasped.

The darts, they were gone.

"Looking for these, Rose Tyler?" The Sorcerer held up the pouch. He tossed them on the ground in front of her and they thudded on the planks below them. Rose dared not reach down for them.

She knew she was in over her head now, but she still wasn't going to back out. And him knowing her name when she hadn't told him only confirmed how deep she was in. He must be using some form of dark magic or was a psychic or something.

"And as for a price, I require only one thing from one such as you." With that, he reached up and pulled the hood covering his face back. Rose gasped again. He was bloody gorgeous! He looked about thirty, his hair was a rich black, he had a strong chin, jutting cheek bones sharp enough to cut yourself on and blue eyes dark and strangely enticing. Rose barely noticed or wondered why he looked like he came from Earth, she was so entranced.

He came closer to her and Rose found herself spellbound. He leaned over her and lifted her chin up to meet her lips with his. Rose's world exploded in passion as he caressed her like she had never been before, not even by Mickey and certainly not Jimmy. As he kissed her she felt a strange sensation, like a tingling in the back of her head and the pit of her stomach, like she had just sealed a deal. A very bad and dangerous one. Truth be told, the darkness enticed her in a way that frightened her.

All too soon he released her, his eyes a bit brighter. Rose stood there, slightly dazed. She blinked twice and found the vial in her hand.

"Drink it." He ordered. She didn't disobey.

" _Feels like the weight of the world,  
Like God in Heaven gave me a turn.  
Don't cling to me, I swear I can't fix you.  
Still in the dark, can you fix me?  
Freefall, freefall, all through life..."_

Rose immediately undid the stopper and downed the whole thing. It burned as it went down and she felt it rest in her stomach like a living creature. The feeling didn't go away.

"You will feel the effects by tomorrow." Rose blinked again and the Sorcerer was gone, as was his boat. Tossing the empty vial in the lake, Rose ran back to the village and towards the TARDIS. It was five minutes past midnight.

As she ran, suddenly feelings of horror came over her.

 _"What have you done!?"_ A voice screamed in her head. Immediately it was silenced by another, a darker voice that didn't sound like the voice in her head, rather what rested inside her that she could still feel.

 _"He drove you to it, through no fault of your own. Besides, you've done nothing wrong."_ It was easy to believe the new voice.

 _"Yeah. I've done nothing wrong."_

As she neared the blue box, she let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. She had beaten the Doctor here even though she was late. With a start she realised she left her pouch of darts on the pier. As soon as she thought it she felt a bulge in the pocket of her jeans and was surprised when she pulled out said pouch. She opened it up and was shocked to also see the empty vial resting inside it next to her darts. Hadn't she thrown that to the bottom of the lake?

"Sorry it took so long," Rose heard the Doctor and stuffed the pouch into her jacket pocket. She'd solve the mystery of the vial later. Not that it would make any difference now.

He was tossing a clear sphere up in the air. "Blimey, this little bugger was causing all sorts of problems, weren't you?" He stopping throwing the ball up and showed it to Rose. Inside it was a furry little creature like looked like a common wood mouse, but it had three eyes and two tails. The thing seemed to glare at the Doctor and Rose felt a wave of pity for it. The Doctor saw her look and chastised her. "Oi, don't feel sorry for it! It was giving off mild levels of infrasound, or sounds below 20 hertz, too difficult for most humanoids to hear but can enhance the sensation of fear and even sometimes cause physiological damage if exposed too long. Of course, we weren't affected by it, being space travelers and all, the increased immune systems we've got helped quite a bit. Did you know some Earth composers even used infrasound to evoke feelings of dread in their music? Not that that's the point but really, I think it's fascinating. Don't you think it's fascinating?"

Rose nodded, not really listening. Already she could feel something distinctly human inside her drain away, though she couldn't find a reason to care. "Now, it won't tell me why it was here, but I guess it doesn't matter now, does it?" Instinctively Rose knew that this creature had something to do with the Sorcerer, after all, what better way to keep yourself shrouded in mystery than to keep the villagers too afraid to investigate?

"No," she replied to his question. "It doesn't."

As the Doctor walked inside the TARDIS, Rose looked back towards the direction of the pier, not knowing her eyes were swirling black.

 _"What have you done now?!"_

* * *

 **Everything in here about infrasound is true, I found it fascinating as I was reading about it. Go check it out if you want :)**


	3. 2 - Doomsday With a Twist

**The next few chapters are skipping around episodes. I really hate word for word rewrites, writing as much as reading them (unless it's changed enough like my most very favorite fic EVER "A Golden Rose" by bubblygal92. In fact I'm thinking about reading it again, it's _so_ worth it), so I hope you don't mind. Every scene mentioned is anything that's been changed from canon, assume everything else happened exactly the same. Hopefully you guys have all seen these episodes. If not, well, I'd watch those first before reading this, spoilers and all that.  
**

* * *

 _As the Doctor walked inside the TARDIS, Rose looked back towards the direction of the pier, not knowing her eyes were swirling black._

 **Chapter 2: Doomsday With a Twist**

 _"I, I've been waiting for someone like you_  
 _But now you are slipping away  
What have you done now?"_

The next morning when Rose woke up, she thought nothing of what had happened the day before; not that she forgot, just that she didn't think it was worth a second thought. As she got ready for the day, she noticed her laundry bag was getting full.

 _"Oh yeah,"_ she thought. _"I guess it has been a week."_ That made today laundry day. Her heart leaped in excitement. She hadn't seen her mother since just after Mickey left. It would be wonderful to see the woman who raised her again. A smile grew on her face as she hefted her laundry bag up and left her room, heading towards the console room. The Doctor immediately groaned when he saw her load, looking up at the ceiling in his pout.

"Why can't you just use the washer on board?"

"We go through this every laundry day." She retorted, dropping the bag to the floor. It 'thunked' against the grate loudly. "My mother needs to feel needed. Plus I want to see her, it's been too long." The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. Usually she just laughed and said it was something they'd both have to endure. Continuing to scowl, his mood incredibly darkened by the new prospects of this day, he entered the TARDIS into the vortex. He watched Rose carefully as she hopped impatiently on the back of her heels. Finally when they landed, Rose picked her bag back up and was out the door like a shot.

"Don't wait up." The Doctor muttered, still grumpy as he followed her out.

When he climbed up the steps and arrived at the Tyler flat, he found Rose and her mother hugging, something they always did when Rose came home. But what shocked him was after Jackie had released Rose, she turned and pulled him in for a snog! He heard Rose giggling nearby and knew he'd have to take revenge on her for that. _Sweet revenge involving bananas and a trampoline planet_ he figured, his mind already racing. Rose's next words wiped that from his head.

"Would you two like some alone time?" By this the Doctor had finally pulled Mrs. Tyler off of her.

"Rose!" He cried in horror. "How could you say such a ghastly thing?" Mostly he was surprised Rose hadn't pulled Jackie off him herself, as she usually seemed to be like that every time he even so much as glanced at another girl, much less face-battle her mother!

"Well, come on in," Jackie interrupted. "I've got a surprise for you..."

* * *

The Doctor was waiting outside the TARDIS for the next ghost shift while he had Rose calibrating the spaceship from inside. Rose didn't know it but the Doctor could hear every word she and her mother were saying due to his earpiece, and he didn't like a single word he heard.

 _"In forty years time, fifty there'll be this strange woman, "_ Jackie began. _"walking through the marketplace on some planet a billion miles from Earth. She's not Rose Tyler. Not anymore. She's not even human."_

 _"Mum, you say it like I'm going to be here forever."_

 _"Well, aren't you? You keep saying you're never gonna leave 'im."_

 _"It's true, he's hurting and lonely and needs a friend right now. But you're my mum. You're the most important person in the world to me and I could never leave you on your own forever."_ The Doctor cast a glance inside to see them embrace. What Rose said worried the Doctor, no, more like distressed him. Just a few weeks ago, when he had asked her point blank how long she was going to stay with him, her reply had been _"Forever."_ And now she was telling Jackie that wasn't true? She was lying to somebody, but was it him or her mother?

He thought their relationship had grown to something more than friendship, not in the romantic sense, but in the way that few understood, how they would never leave each other and would sacrifice anything to keep the other safe, even their own lives, as they had both proven before. And now she said she would someday toss him away like some piece of space rubbish? None of this made any sense.

Well, first he'd solve this issue of the 'ghosts', then he'd ask her for the truth...

* * *

"They can shoot me dead but the moral high ground is mine!"

* * *

"THE FEMALE'S HEARTBEAT HAS INCREASED!"

"Well yeah, of course it's gonna if you threaten to exterminate my friend and my mother!"

* * *

"I took the time vortex, poured it into his head and turned him into dust. God of all Daleks, and I destroyed him. Ha!" The Dalek rolled back in fear at the look in her dark eyes. This was something unearthly. Something that changed the time lines around this puny human in a way it shouldn't. And it must be destroyed at all costs.

"YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

"Oh now hold on, wait a minute!"

* * *

As the day progressed the Doctor grew more and more anxious and distracted. Not just about the Cybermen and Daleks (which, that in itself was distressing enough), but about Rose. She was becoming increasingly more and more distant, and in turn he began getting more and more possessive of her. It was more of a reflex than anything, or maybe was it jealousy? Everybody seemed to be getting more attention from her than him, even Mr. Mickety-Mick! It sounded petty and childish, but this regeneration _was_ rather petty and childish.

He felt his blood boiling when he had burst through the door with that carefully-timed dramatic entrance only to see her arm on Mickey's. She had let her ex-boyfriend go in the first place hadn't she?

And now he was faced with a choice. To send her away forever, or ask her to abandon her family to stay by his side. His eyes grew wide in horror as she grabbed one of the dimension hoppers from her not-father. Jackie gave out a laugh of relief.

"For a second I thought you would be staying here." Rose grabbed her mother's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.

"I love you mum. I could never leave you." That did it. The Doctor strode up and pulled Rose off, turning her to face him. "Oi!" She cried.

"Rose, you would never see me again, never be able to travel in the TARDIS! Is that what you want?"

"You selfish bastard!" She nearly screamed at him, throwing his arms off roughly. "How can you even have the gall to ask me to abandon everybody I love?"

"But I..." Even now he couldn't say it. He sighed, feeling his hearts breaking. Looking around and seeing everybody else wearing their dimension buttons, he nodded.

"Fine. Go." Her eyes widened and she stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. To his shock Rose came up and hugged him.

"Thank you Doctor, for all you've done for me. You've saved my life so many times, I could never repay you."

"The debt is paid, in full." He replied quietly, his voice choked with emotion. She had had a huge impact on his life...more than he could even describe. How was it all ending like this? He felt his eyes filling with tears as she turned away from him and to Jackie and Pete.

He couldn't help but watch in broken resignation as she hit the button on her chest and disappeared from his life, forever.

* * *

The void was finally closed. There had been a harrowing moment where one of the levers got knocked out of place by a Dalek, but it had corrected itself. Had he been imagining it or had he seen a brunette woman there for a moment, righting the lever? No, he had only imagined it. His mind was cracking in undefinable ways, his mind's eye only seeing Rose disappearing in a flash of light. She was gone. _She was gone. Forever._

Now he lay on the ground, one hand still grasping his lever and panting for breath. His hearts had been broken for good since Rose chose to leave him. Now all he felt was an all-consuming emptiness, a loneliness that could never be filled. He thought he knew her, thought she would stay by his side for as long as she could. He thought she wouldn't go without a fight, but she had left him willingly, and that had left a bigger hole than if he had lost her against her will.

He lifted his head and stared at the white wall on the other side of the room. Was she on the other side, regretting her choice? There was still so many places he wanted to take her, so many things he wanted to say to her...

He knew he had to see her one last time. He needed to tell her.

She needed to know.

 _"Rose..."_

* * *

Meanwhile, in the other universe, Rose had shocked more than just the Doctor with her behavior. Mickey was aghast, seeing her standing there without even one tear in her eyes. He pulled her aside where Jackie couldn't hear them.

"Rose, what have you done?" He saw a confused look spread across her face.

"What do you mean? I chose to stay with my mother, what's the problem in that?"

"You left the man you love!" Her eyes flashed in anger.

"I do NOT love him, and don't ever make that assumption again! It was hard enough knowing I was leaving him on his own."

"So you do love him."

"What? No!"

"Rose, he is the reason why we broke up. You never once denied that you cared for him."

"Mickey, shut up." Her voice lowered dangerously. He didn't listen.

"And then you just leave him like he wasn't the center of your entire universe. What is wrong with you?"

"There is _nothing_ wrong with me." She tried to walk away but he blocked her path. She shoved him out her way forcefully and he had no choice but to step aside.

"Rose, I'm just trying to help!" He yelled after her. She stopped and turned back to him, barely concealed rage on her face.

"Just because I don't love the Doctor _doesn't_ mean I still love you." With that she left, leaving Mickey with absolutely no doubt that something really was wrong with her.

* * *

 _"Rose..."_

* * *

Three weeks later and Mickey and Rose were hardly speaking. Mickey knew he'd never get anything out of Rose, and he nearly decided to give it up. To Pete and Jackie it seemed like it didn't matter that Rose no longer cared for the Doctor, but a love like that didn't just go away. It stayed through thick and thin, through good times and bad. It was something Mickey and Rose never once had. Even though neither the Doctor or Rose knew it or acknowledged it, their love showed Mickey just what true love really was, and that he could never have had a truly happy life with her. It would have been comfortable, but not special.

It was clear from the way the Doctor had acted and what he had said to her right before they left showed that his feelings hadn't changed, so it had just been Rose. There was something wrong, and Mickey knew he couldn't give up. So he decided to go a different direction.

Mickey drove up to the Tyler mansion when he knew Rose would be working at her new job. He knocked on the door warily, on the lookout for Rose nevertheless. Thankfully, it was Jackie who answered the door. They used to have servants but Jackie had dismissed the all when she moved in, saying she'd been raised as a woman who took care of her own home, as her mother and her mother's mother before her.

"Mickey!" She cried happily upon seeing him. "Please come in, it's been too long." She opened the door wider and he stepped inside. The mansion never ceased to amaze him, with its marble floors, shining stairwells, ornate furniture and expensive paintings. She led him to a room on the right, a cosy living area with tan furniture and warm, red carpeting.

"Would you like anything? Did you eat breakfast? Have you been eating well since you've gotten your own apartment?" Jackie hadn't changed at all, that was for sure. It was nearly the same spiel she used to give him back at the Powell Estates. His heart clenched in nostalgia and sadness. Nevertheless, he answered the same as he always did.

"No thanks, yes, and I guess so." With that out of the way, the two of them sat down on the couch and faced each other.

"What is it you're really here for then, you were never one just for chitchat." That was true. Mickey waited a few seconds before he began.

"Have...have you noticed any...anything strange about Rose?"

"Why, no, what do you mean?"

"Well, she doesn't seem too broken up about losing the Doctor."

"What are you insinuating?" Her voice lowered much too dangerously for his liking. Mickey knew he shouldn't continue, but he did anyway.

"I just think ordinarily she wouldn't have made the choice she did."

"You're saying she...she would have stayed with him? Instead of her own family? How dare you!"

"It's true!" Mickey retorted. "You just can't accept it because she's acting exactly how you want her to, and not how she really is!" Jackie leapt up at that, pointing towards the door.

"Get. Out." Mickey stood up. Scowling at her, he left the mansion, refusing to look back. If they didn't want to listen, fine. He wanted to do more, but he couldn't. Pete and Jake wouldn't be any help, and Rose and now Jackie refused to listen to reason. There was nothing more he could do. Everyone he knew was being selfish and looking out only for themselves, except for him.

So he let it go. For now.

* * *

 _"Rose..."_

* * *

Ever since Mickey had dropped the subject of the Doctor, Rose had been a tiny bit more social towards him. Their friendship wasn't like it was before and Mickey feared it never would be again. They had both done too much damage. But they never talked about what had happened, and it was nearly forgotten.

One morning, a little over after three months since the Battle of Canary Wharf, Mickey passed by Rose's office only to see her rubbing her forehead with her fingers. She usually worked down at the shop but every once in a while she would come in to Torchwood, her expertise a great help at times.

"You okay?" He asked, stepping inside.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing."

"Alright." He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. He knew if he were to push he would get nowhere. He knew her better than she thought he did.

"You really wanna know?"

"Only if you wanna tell." It had been over three months since their argument, hopefully she thought she could still trust him.

"It's the Doctor. He's been calling to me every night and I haven't been able to sleep at all." This surprised Mickey. Regardless, he still held himself back. Rushing forward could ruin his only chance to fix this.

"Calling? How?"

"I don't know. In my head somehow. I can't explain it."

"What are you gonna do?" She sighed.

"I don't know that either. He's calling me to go somewhere far away, I can't make the trip on my own."

"You can't or you don't want to?" She glanced at him and he feared he had gone too far.

"I've finally rebuilt my life, I don't want him taking me away from it."

"But he said it was impossible. He probably just wants to say goodbye."

"You're probably right but, knowing him, he would have found some way to keep me glued to his side. Can't he just ever let things go?"

"Don't you want to hear what he has to say? After all, you did travel with him for two years." She stayed silent for a while. Finally she spoke.

"Yeah. I guess I better. I'll talk to mum and Pete, we'll go soon."

"You're letting me come?" Surprise again.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Rose didn't tell him but this was a way to show all of them that she was leaving her life with the Doctor behind. For good this time. Plus, her mother prattling on about baby stuff the whole way should be punishment enough for the way he had treated her.

* * *

By the time they got to Norway Rose was upset by how long this had taken. And with each complaint Mickey grew more and more sure that this wasn't the Rose he had grown up with. But what could he do? _Nothing, that's what._ He didn't have the brains or the power like the Doctor did, and anyone he asked for help wouldn't believe him. He prayed the Doctor would notice and be concerned enough to do something. If he really and truly loved her, he would.

* * *

Rose had been standing on the beaches of Dalig Ulv Stranden for about an hour, standing about a hundred metres away from Mickey and her family. She looked back at Mickey, exasperated, when suddenly the Doctor appeared behind her. Rose noticed his presence and approached.

"Hello Rose," his voice was laced with sadness.

"Where are you?"

"Inside the TARDIS. There's one tiny little gap in the universe left, just about to close. And it takes a lot of power to send this projection, I'm in orbit around a supernova. I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye." His voice nearly broke.

"You look like a ghost." She stated, the Doctor noticed without a trace of feeling.

"Hold on." He recalibrated the sensors on the TARDIS and his body solidified. She stood in the same spot as before, not even bothering to move closer. The Doctor stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, not really knowing where to start. "So..." He began. "Where are we, where did the gap come out?"

"We're in Norway, about 50 miles out of Bergen. It's called Dalig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?" He asked, horrified.

"Da- _lig_. It's Norwegian for bad. This place translates to Bad Wolf Bay." The Doctor laughed at that but Rose seemed more annoyed.

"So...what have you been up to?" Rose was about to snap at him, asking him why he was really here, but at the last second she decided to humour him, seeing as this was the last time he would ever see her again. It was the least she could do, after all.

"Oh, I'm back working in the shop. Also, they're hiring at the Torchwood here apparently, figure I've got enough experience."

"Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth!" He sounded so proud of her. Suddenly his face fell. "You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you'd gone missing. You're on the list of the dead..." His voice broke again. He swallowed and regained control. "But here you are, living a life day after day...the one adventure I can never have." Rose looked down and sighed, kicking at the sand with her foot.

"Doctor, what are you here for? Is there something you need to say?" This clearly distressed the Doctor. He thought he didn't want to see her cry, but this...it was like she didn't even care.

"Rose I-I...I love you." There. It was his last chance and he finally said it. "Ever since Downing Street. You gave up everything for me, and you made me a better man." He turned his head away, feeling his eyes full with tears. "Blimey, I don't know if I can live without you." Rose let out a noise of disgust.

"That's a shame."

" _If you love me, then let go of me.  
I won't be held down by who I used to be.  
She's nothing to me..."_

"Excuse me?" His face snapped back to her.

"You shouldn't have fallen in love with me." She came up closer to him. "You need to let me go, find a new companion, someone you can easily manipulate without endangering your own hearts this time. You went too far with me. I wouldn't advise you to do it again. For your own good of course." His eyes darkened.

"Rose, I don't know what has happened to you, but I'm going to find out." She scowled at him. "I don't care how long it takes. I will find a way back here, and I _will_ find what is wrong. Make no mistake, I'll-"

He was cut off as the transmission ended abruptly. He opened his mouth in horror at the last thing he had seen.

It might have been a trick of the light but, just as he was dragged back to the TARDIS, he was sure he saw her eyes swirl in blackness.

He had just let her go and now she was lost to him forever. Her harsh words cut through him like a knife.

 _"That's a shame."_

It was too overwhelming. He collapsed to his knees, one hand gripping the side of the console as sobs wracked his body. He had failed her. She had done so much for him, he was sure she used to love him. And that love had changed him in ways he couldn't even begin to describe. Now, somehow he had ruined her, and there was no way he could save her. Contrary to his words, he had already tried every way in the book to cross between the universes but it was impossible. It was hopeless.

 _"Why, why does fate make us suffer?_  
 _There's a curse between us, 'tween me and you  
What have you done?!"_

* * *

In the other universe, Jackie walked up to Rose, who was still standing in the same place she'd been when the Doctor vanished.

"You okay sweetheart?" She put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Oh yes!" Rose replied without turning around. She clapped her hands in excitement. "Everything's just perfect!" She finally spun around and Jackie gasped. Her eyes were black, and the expression on her face was not a good one. "Now that that's done, there's some unfinished business I need to attend to."

Jackie screamed.


	4. 3 - Judoon, Weeping Angels and the Drums

**Yeah, the Doctor kinda whines and feels sorry for himself a lot in this chapter but yet, that how he acted in series 3. And for good reason.**

* * *

 _"Rose, I don't know what has happened to you, but I'm going to find out." She scowled at him. "I don't care how long it takes. I will find a way back here, and I will find what is wrong. Make no mistake, I'll-"_

 _He was cut off as the transmission ended abruptly. He opened his mouth in horror at the last thing he had seen._

 _It might have been a trick of the light but, just as he was dragged back to the TARDIS, he was sure he saw her eyes swirl in blackness._

 **Chapter 3: Judoon, Weeping Angels and the Sound of Drums**

 _"Why, why does fate make us suffer?"_

The Doctor sighed wearily as he set the TARDIS into the time vortex. Donna's words wouldn't stop resonating in his head.

 _"That friend you lost, what was her name?"_

 _Her name?_

 _That friend?_

 _Lost..._

 _"Rose. Her name was Rose."_

He missed her so much. He couldn't stop thinking about her, every waking moment was a memory of her, or her cruel rejection words resounding inside the walls of his head. In order for his hearts to move on he physically made himself believe that he had imagined her eyes changing color, and that she had merely fallen out of love with him. That she truly valued her family more than she ever cared for him. If he kept on thinking there was something wrong with her and there was nothing he could do about it...well he had no doubt he would go mad.

So he did what she had told him. He moved on and found a new companion, one who would lose her heart to him and he could never undo the damage. Just as Rose had predicted.

 _"Find a new companion, someone you can easily manipulate without endangering your own hearts this time."_

"Rose, her name was Rose...and, we-we were together...no, anyway. And you're not replacing her!" _No one ever could._

"I never said I was!" _Sure, the way your eyes keep drifting back to my lips..._

"Just one trip, to say thanks, you get one trip, then back home!" His hearts were hurting so bad, he didn't think he could go through anything like that again, ever. Even having another woman on the TARDIS who wasn't Rose hurt indescribably. "I'd rather be on my own." It was safer, anyway.

"Well you're the one who kissed me." It should have been a warning sign right there, just after he told her to back off. But he ignored the tingling feeling in his gut.

"That was a genetic transfer." He growled. He had known it was a huge mistake the minute his lips touched hers. He hadn't been thinking, typically.

Of course she wouldn't stop there. Couldn't she see how much he was hurting? Why didn't the Doctor just throw her out now? But he didn't. Add that mistake to the list growing longer every day.

* * *

 _"Oh big mistake, because that name keeps me fighting!"_

 _"You're taking me to all the same planets you took her? Ever heard of rebound?"_

 _"Just proves it I suppose. There's someone out there for everyone."_

 _"Maybe."_

 _"If you live long enough Lazarus, the only certainty is that you'll end up alone."_

 _"I'm scared. I'm so scared!"_

John Smith's eyes flew open as he woke up, reeling from his most recent dream. Throwing the covers off, he rushed out of bed and over to his journal. Her face was still so clear in his mind, like he could reach out and touch her if he really wanted.

But then he remembered the dream and knew he couldn't. She was gone. She had left him. He grabbed his drawing utensils and began sketching her beautiful face, Her array of golden hair. His Bad Wolf. The woman who had saved his life, then broke his hearts...heart.

When he finished, he was pleased with the outcome, and he began writing down everything he knew about her in the spaces around her face.

 _"Her name is Rose Tyler. She used to love me. I still love her. She left me."_ He touched his pencil down to write _I Lost Her_ , but as his fingers began the L in Lost, the pencil took a different turn without him noticing. He looked down to see what he had written.

 _"I Failed Her."_

* * *

This was out of control. He had gone way, way, _way_ too far. He was spiraling, leading Martha down a path that would eventually destroy her. He had to let her go before she ended up like Rose. He felt so guilty, after all, she had just saved his life from the Family of Blood, and he didn't know what he'd have done without her. But hearing actual proof that she had fallen in love with him had been too much. There had already been that whole mess with Joan, he didn't need anything more on top of that.

"W-what are we doing here?" Martha asked as she stepped out of the TARDIS and into her bedroom. An unwelcome wave of deja vu washed over her. Just before Lazarus, he had changed his mind and invited her on for good. She thought she was sure the Doctor would keep her now, so what were they doing here?

"I'm sorry, so sorry Martha. I can't do this to you anymore."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor sighed, leaning his back against his ship. This was going to be hard, but there was no other way.

"The...the last time I gave my hearts to someone, she tore them apart, right in front of me."

"You mean Rose?" She spat in pure jealousy. The Doctor's protective instincts kicked in. Rose may have broken his hearts, but she still held them, for what he knew now was forever. The undeniable proof sat in front of him in the form of John Smith only being able to remember one name, just one, of his time lord life. Not Martha's, not anybody's. Just hers.

"Don't. Don't _ever_ talk about her like that. You don't know her story and you have no right to judge her. Yes she broke my hearts but I still love her. I always will. And I can't do this with anyone else. No matter how you feel about me I can never, ever feel the same."

"This is about what I said to John isn't it?" He nodded. "I was just trying to get him to see what he was doing was wrong." He looked away, feeling the anger rising in his chest.

"We both know that's a lie. You've had a mere passing fancy for me ever since I did that genetic transfer which you continue to insist was a kiss, no matter how much I tell you to stop." She tried to interject but he wouldn't let her. "I'm sorry but, I won't hurt you like I hurt Rose. The damage I did to her I can never repair, though I don't even know what I did. But I have to live the rest of my accursedly long life knowing I ruined the greatest thing I ever had. I won't do the same to you. It may seem cruel but I'm trying to be kind."

"I just saved your life! I waited three months in Victorian hell for you! You can't just drop me off like none of that ever happened! This isn't fair!" But he refused to listen to her.

"Be thankful I'm letting you go before you get killed or worse, end up like Rose. She might not even be human anymore after what I did to her."

"So she's a monster?" Martha accused without thinking. He scowled at her darkly, not replying to that as he stepped inside the TARDIS. "Thank you and goodbye Martha Jones." He shut the door.

Martha felt tears streaming down her face as her new life aboard the TARDIS abruptly ended, and the man she loved running away from her forever.

* * *

The Doctor stomped down the street, a scowl on his face. The people around him seemed to notice his mood, giving him a wide berth.

1969! He was stuck in 1969, and he couldn't believe it. How could he have let those...those _things_ get him when his back was turned? He was better than that. Now he was trapped in the past without his TARDIS. Well, at least he had these documents that that blonde woman had given him back (or forward he should say) in 2007. It was a strange occurrence but everything in this folder had been enough for him to formulate some sort of a plan to get himself out of this mess, and hopefully stop those creatures as well.

And at least Martha was home, safe. Although her working an extra job for more cash would have been handy. Without any money he wasn't sure how far he'd get with these plans. And even if they didn't work out, worst case scenario, he'd have to live these 40 or so years, which wouldn't be too bad, as long as he was able to get his hands on some living money. He'd have to 'ugh', find a house, get a mortgage. He recalled what Rose had said to him back on that asteroid nearly a year ago.

 _"I don't know, we could be the same one. We could both...I don't know. Share. Or not. Whatever."_

 _"Everyone leaves home in the end."_

 _"Yeah, but stuck with you, that's not so bad."_

How could he have been so blind? Even back then he had been thick. Incredibly thick. Thicker than he had ever been. And now she was gone, and it was all his-

He was so entranced in his reverie that he didn't notice a brunette woman walking right towards him until she smacked right into him.

"Oi!" He cried as the woman ran off. He tried to see where she had gone but there were too many people. Suddenly he noticed an envelope in his hands. He opened it and there was a wad of cash sitting inside.

* * *

 _"Don't blink, blink and you're dead!"_

* * *

"Oh no, she's alive Jack, she's in another universe. Left me to stay with her family." The Doctor sighed, running a hand over his face. Jack noticed the action. He was overjoyed to hear that one of his best friends wasn't dead as he had feared, but the look on the Doctor's face and he immediately noticed their parting hadn't gone too well.

"She left you? Rose would never leave you on her own accord. You had to send her away last time and look how that turned out!"

"What was I supposed to do Jack? I told her I loved her and she...well, she doesn't return those feelings."

"No. No I won't believe it. That's not the Rose I knew. She loved you with all her soul, she would have died for you!"

"Well, she's gone now, and there's nothing I can do to change that." Without letting Jack reply, he continued walking towards the civilization below. Not one for being deterred, Jack hurried on and caught up to the Time Lord.

"She's alive though, at least that's something." The Doctor only grunted in agreement. He didn't want to tell him that he suspected something was wrong with her and whatever she was in, it wasn't living. But he didn't say a word. "So...all this time, have you been traveling on your own?" That was a better subject. Not a whole lot better, but better.

"No, a woman named Martha traveled with me for a while. You would have liked her." Jack still would have liked it if he had traveled with an alien with six arms and two heads. Perhaps more so.

"What happened?"

"She fancied me. It was getting out of hand, so I took her home." Jack may have not been the best example in relation to love, but he was wiser on the subject than he acted. He instinctively knew that Rose had broken the Doctor's hearts unspeakably when she had spurned his love. He was surprised to hear the Doctor even admit that he loved her in the first place, but maybe Rose's rejection had made his own feelings for her stronger, or at least brought them to the surface. Either way, it didn't really matter. Life had dealt her cruel hand, and she never redeals.

* * *

 _"Use my name."_

 _"...Master!"_

* * *

The crowds were loud and busy, and nobody noticed a man in a blue world war two coat and another man in a tan trenchcoat sitting on a stone bench, looking around with worry on their faces.

"He's the Prime Minister." Jack mused. "How on Earth did he do that?"

"We need help." The Doctor said, running a hand through his hair. Jack noticed he was doing that a lot now. "I need a computer. I need information." He could go see Sarah Jane but he didn't want to take the chance that she didn't have a computer. He wished he had learned more about her and the life she lived last time they met. That was back when Rose... _no_. No use thinking like that now.

Plus he didn't want to drag his Sarah into this mess, she'd already had too much of the Master in her lifetime for one person. He could go to UNIT but their last meeting hadn't gone too well. _That's another memory with Rose he has to try and forget._ That left only one other.

"Hello Martha." The Doctor jerked his head back in shock as the door slammed in his face.

"Broke her heart too huh? Love 'em and leave 'em. That's something I can respect." The Doctor glared at him as he knocked on her door again.

"Go away!" She shouted from within.

"Martha, I'm sorry I made you leave, but we need your help. The world needs your help. The Prime Minister is a time lord." A few seconds went by and her door slowly creaked open. Martha peeked her head out.

"Harold Saxon? A time lord? Like you?" He nodded.

"An evil one who calls himself the Master." Jack added. "We need to find out what he's up to." She debated this for a minute, before opening the door and letting the pair in.

"So who are you then?" Martha asked Jack as they entered the living room.

"Captain Jack Harkness. I've heard so much about you Miss Jones."

"I'm sure you have." She blushed as he kissed her hand.

"Stop it." The Doctor reprimanded.

"I don't mind." Martha replied, grinning.

* * *

 _"Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer and oh I don't know, medical student?"_

"Out!"

 ***BOOM!***

* * *

The Doctor groaned as he crawled out of his tent, his old bones creaking in pain. Soon the Master would come out for his daily torture. It would be something new too, some form of humiliation, or bringing up painful memories, or describing in detail just how he "acquired" the Toclafane.

Within minutes he heard footsteps coming into the room. Huh. He was early today, the first rays of light had only just begun filling the room. The Master knelt in front of the Doctor.

"Do you know why I called my ship the Valiant?" The Doctor refused to look at him, not if he was correct in his suspicion. "The TARDIS has records of everything you've ever done. These past few years have had some rough points haven't they? How about when the devil nearly took your Valiant Child?" The Doctor closed his eyes and shuddered. "My, she was a feisty one, I probably would have lost my hearts to her too." He growled in what sounded like lust.

"Too bad she didn't love you back. Kind of odd though, how she just rejected you out of the blue. I would have made her stay with me, she would have learned to love me." At that the Doctor lunged for his throat. But his body was ancient and the Master dodged him easily. Laughing, he stood up and kicked the Doctor in the abdomen viciously. He continued to laugh as he left the room, leaving the Doctor in his agony, both physical and emotional.

* * *

"Such a disappointment, this one. Days of old Doctor, you had companions who could absorb the time vortex. This one's useless." Martha bit her lip. After walking the Earth for a year, the very last thing she wanted was a reminder that she was still only second best. She began laughing.

"One word, just one thought at one moment, but with fifteen satellites!"

"What?"

* * *

"I spent a lot of time thinking I was just second best, but you know what? I am good."

"Goodbye Martha Jones. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You were right in bringing me home, you only wanted what was best for me. Too bad I still couldn't avoid what happened."

"It was all my fault." He had tried to save her from pain but had failed miserably. Again. Martha had had to walk the entire earth for a bloody year, something she, more than most, didn't deserve.

"No, it was the Master's. Don't ever blame yourself for what happened." The Doctor nodded, and watched sadly as Martha left the TARDIS for the final time. He had invited her back, but, after what had happened, he wasn't surprised she turned him down. It was time to move on, for both of them.

But something was coming, something darker and far more dangerous than the Doctor had ever encountered.

 _"There's a curse between us, 'tween me and you."_

* * *

 **I don't mind Martha. In series 4 that is. I don't know why people try to defend her, saying she was just written poorly. Every companion has their flaws and I just don't like Martha's, which is jealousy (even more so than Rose's, at least Rose was able to just keep it contained to her face) she's unsympathetic, and she doesn't think before she speaks (most of the time harshly).** ** **She hates Rose only because she was special enough to hold the Doctor's hearts and she couldn't. She even gets mad once she realises Jack knew her too and she couldn't be happy for them when the two celebrated the fact that Rose was _still alive_ in Utopia. NOT DEAD. ALIVE. ** Don't tell me it was just because she was living in Rose's shadow. Donna never once was, and Martha was so self absorbed that she couldn't see just how badly the Doctor was hurting and only needed a friend for support. Once she gains more confidence and realises she doesn't need the Doctor to love her her character gets a million times better. What are your thoughts? Please review! Series 4 next!  
**


	5. 4 - Adipose, Sontar-ha! and The Darkness

****I meant to get this up sooner but I had to recheck the script from nearly every series 4 episode and more. I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly.****

 ** **The scene at the end of The Doctor's Daughter is from the deleted scenes. They really should have kept it in, I think it's great.****

 _ **Major character death warning for this chapter.**_

* * *

 _Something was coming, something darker and far more dangerous than the Doctor had ever encountered._

 **Chapter 4: Adipose, Sontar-ha! and The Darkness is Coming!**

 _"Brand new sky? What do you say Astrid?"_

* * *

 _"I don't believe it! You've even got the same suit! Don't you ever change?"_

 _"Yeah thanks Donna, not right now."_

* * *

"Would you rather be on your own?"

"No, actually no. The last time, with Martha, like I said it...it got complicated. And that was all my fault. I...I just want a mate." It was really the only thing he wanted. He'd be damned if he'd let Donna step inside his ship if she had any inkling of feelings for him. He would never have another Martha Jones disaster if he could avoid it. Thankfully Donna squashed that with her next words.

"You just want to mate?"

"I just want _a_ mate!"

"You're not matin' with me sunshine!"

" _A_ mate. I want _a_ mate!"

"Well, just as well because I'm not having any of that nonsense I mean, you're just a long streak of nothing! Y'know, alien nothing!"

"There we are then. Okay." Perhaps Donna would be good for him...

* * *

"Car keys! I've still got my mum's car keys. I won't be a minute!" The Doctor watched in dumbfounded amusement as he watched his new companion go, before hauling up her hat box and the other load of things she had dumped in front of the TARDIS.

He grinned. He had hope for this one.

* * *

"Gotta go, really gotta go. Bye!" Donna hung up her cell. Looking for anybody who would be potentially trustworthy, she turned to the closest person standing near the bin. "Listen, there's this woman who's gonna come along, a tall blonde woman called Sylvia, tell her that bin there. all right? It will all make sense, that bin there." The man didn't reply, only turned back, his face clearly distressed.

Not having been able to find the Doctor, Mickey turned around and walked towards the alley. He didn't know what he was going to do if he couldn't find him. He needed the Doctor's help soon, or else everything he loved would be destroyed.

He faded like mist in the air.

* * *

"A dark evil is coming for you, you... _mad man in a box_. Worse than anything you have ever faced before. _She is returning. Beware the Viltra Queen!_ And another..." Lucius frowned, as if he wasn't expecting the next statement to come out of his mouth. "She will turn your failures into successes!"

 _"I think your song must end soon. Every song must end."_

* * *

It had taken Donna a few seconds, but then she realised the Doctor had been talking to her through his conversation with the Sontarans. She turned away from the TARDIS console screen just as a dark man's image flashed on the screen.

 _"Doctor, help us!"_ He mouthed, but went unnoticed.

* * *

"When I look at her now, I can see them. The hole they left, all the pain that filled it. And..." He stopped, not wanting to say it.

"What?" He knew from experience that his redheaded companion wouldn't just let it go.

"Jenny, she...she looks just like her."

"Her? Rose?"

"The way she walks, the way her blonde hair flips around, the way she stands up to me, challenges my beliefs..." Donna already knew the story in detail about how Rose had left him. She wasn't mad at Rose at all, more like confused. How could someone ever reject this life? Well, Martha had, but that was a different story. And it was clear the Doctor still wholly and completely loved Rose, so even just looking at his daughter brought on more pain than he could take.

"She's not Rose you know. She won't leave you."

"Rose didn't..." He stopped. _Yes she had_. Sometimes he felt like he had imagined her cruel words, they were so unlike her. Many times he heard a different set of words in his head, said with tears and heartbreak. Words that didn't exist but seemed to, in another world, another time.

 _"I'm never going to see you again!"_

 _"You can't."_

 _"I...I love you!" To hear those words out of her mouth...it was like nothing his hearts had ever felt before.  
_

 _"Quite right too. And I guess, if it's my last chance to say it...Rose Tyler I-"_

He lowered his head.

"I don't know if I can face that every day."

"It won't stay like that. She'll help you. We both will."

* * *

 _"You see that pain in there? That doesn't mean you were wrong to let her in. It proves you were right. Just like with Rose. Opening your heart up to love will always be a good thing, no matter what happens in the end. It only makes it stronger."_

* * *

"Flapper or slapper?"

"Flapper definitely."

* * *

 _"It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run! And Doctor...have hope. I'm not the only one you'll see again."_

* * *

"What about you? You alright?"

"I'm always alright."

"Is alright special Time Lord code for really not alright at all?"

"Why?"

"'Cause I'm alright too."

* * *

"How are we? Everyone alright?" The Doctor stood up, his back facing the monitor behind him. The screen flashed up and the same dark-faced man mouthed

 _"Doctor! Doctor!"_ But again was unheard.

* * *

 _"NO!"_ Everything inside him screamed. He would refuse to let these...these maggots throw him out the door, not when he had any ounce of humanity left, which was _screaming._ He had to hold on. He felt himself slipping, quickly. He couldn't even close his eyes, the strange creature that had stolen his voice had stolen that too.

As he struggled against the humans pulling him towards the air lock, he saw one shining face in his mind. The young nineteen year old who brought light again to his dark world so long ago. The girl who had taught him how to be human when he himself forgot how.

Soon it would be all over, and they would be together again. At least in his version of Heaven, she would be there. Even if she wasn't, at least this pain would be over. And not just the current physical pain, but the pain he'd endured these last three years without her.

Then suddenly it was, but not in the way he thought.

* * *

 _"Yeah, I 'spose you're right." Donna changed her blinker and turned her car right. Over the next year she continued to see a man following her, watching her. Dark skin, around age 20. Until she confronted him. In every instance he was vague, saying strange things like "I'm all that's left." and "Only the Doctor can fix this now." There was such agony in his eyes that Donna couldn't argue when he said she would come to him in three weeks._

 _He said he needed to get out of this parallel universe and warn him, whatever that meant, and that the Doctor needed to stop the oncoming darkness. And there was only one way to set things right...she needed to turn left. As she lay dying on that street, the man who wouldn't even tell her his name leaned over her and whispered two words into her ear._

* * *

"I...I don't know, it's all sort of a blur now."

"Well, that world doesn't exist anymore."

"That man, he said the stars...he said the stars are going out. All worlds. Every world. He said the darkness is coming, even here."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know."

"What did he look like?"

"Oh...dark skinned. Short hair. Spoke with a cockney accent." At this the Doctor's eyes widened in surprise.

"What was his name?"

"I don't know!"

"Donna, what was his name?" _Could it be...?_

"But he told me, to warn you. He said two words." In Donna's head she remembered lying on that cold street dying, and the man, in his mid twenties but his eyes filled with so much pain and worry, whispering in her ear.

"What two words, what were they?" Donna was so lost in the memory she barely noticed the Doctor's agitation.

"He said... _Rose Tyler._ " She gasped, not remembering until she had spoken them. "Rose Tyler! How would he know of her?!" But the Doctor wasn't listening. He had taken off, out of the room and towards the TARDIS. As they burst inside the Cloister Bell rang out ominously.

"Doctor, what is going on? What does this mean?"

"It's the end of the universe!"

* * *

"But if that was Mickey, surely Rose is coming, isn't that good?" The Doctor thought about that. He would do anything to see her again, to see her grin, hear her laugh, feel her lips... _No._

"Donna, she doesn't want me. I told her I loved her and she turned me down-" **SMACK!** Donna's hand came across the Doctor's cheek. He reeled back in shock. "Oi!" He cried. "What was that for?!"

"I don't want to hear any more of your whinging on how you lost her. Yes, it was a terrible thing, but it was two years ago."

"Three actually, there was the year that never was."

"Three years then. It's time to make a choice Spaceman, to find your Rose and show her the love you have for her, or let her go and forget her. Holding on to this will only make it hurt worse." The Doctor hung his head. When he brought it back up he was smiling.

"You sure are wise, for a temp that is."

"Oi!" That earned him another smack on the shoulder.

* * *

"Think Donna, when you met Mickey in that parallel world, what did he say?"

"Just..'The darkness is coming'."

"Anything else?"

"DOCTOR!" Both the Doctor and Donna jumped at the shout. They turned around and saw Mickey running towards them. "Doctor, I came all this way, it's about Rose, something's terribly wrong w-..." The chilling sound of a Dalek's cry resounded through the air.

"No!" Mickey shouted, having come far enough to push the Doctor out of the way. He cried out in pain as he was shot and crumpled to the ground. A second later Jack appeared and destroyed the Dalek. The Doctor collapsed at Mickey's side. He should have died immediately, but by some miracle he was still holding on. But not for long.

"Mickey, I'm so sorry," the Doctor felt his hearts breaking in sadness, there was nothing he could do for his old friend, and after everything Mickey had done to get here.

"Rose...she...they're all gone...y-you're the only one...stop h-..." His head rolled to the side as his heart stopped. When the Doctor lifted his head up, his eyes channeled the fury of the Oncoming Storm. The Daleks had taken too many things away from him, he would be damned if he didn't stop them, tonight. Jack and Donna didn't say a word, only followed the Doctor as he reentered his TARDIS. Jack wordlessly hauled Mickey's body up and carried him into a stasis chamber to be dealt with at the proper time.

"Doctor, I'm sorry, I know this didn't turn..."

"She's not here," the Doctor cut Donna off. "Mickey died trying to tell me something about her, but she's not here. What if she's in trouble? He said something was terribly wrong and I was the only one who could...do something. What if she's dead too? Or worse...?" He couldn't finish, his voice shook so badly. Donna could see the Doctor was starting to lose control. His chest heaved quickly and his eyes were filling with tears. He would break something soon if she didn't intervene.

"You'll find her," She tried to reassure him. He slammed his hands on the console suddenly, startling her.

"Yeah, well what if I don't? WHAT DO I DO THEN?!" He realized he had raised his voice more than was necessary. "Sorry, it's just..."

"I know. You lost a friend today."

"Mickey was...well when I first met him, he wasn't the bravest or the wisest man, but he grew up, a lot. He shouldn't have had to die like that."

"I know." Jack had come out from the hallway by that point. His face was sober, and the Doctor could tell Jack was shaken by Mickey's death as well. He realised with a start that Jack probably called Mickey his friend too. So many memories, so long ago...

 _"I knew we should have turned left!"_

 _"That's my line!"_

 _"I don't believe you! I don't believe a word you say, ever, that is so brilliant!"_

Jack's voice brought him out of the reverie.

"Doc, sorry to interrupt but what do we do now?" Suddenly the lights shut off and a chilling noise came from outside. The Doctor bounded around the console to find out what had happened.

"They've got us. Power's gone." The Doctor stated in horror.

* * *

Meanwhile Sarah Jane was driving her car, trying to find the Doctor. All of a sudden three Daleks appeared in front of her car.

"I surrender! I'm sorry!" She raised her hands over her face, but suddenly the Daleks exploded. She hopped out of her car to see what had happened. Two men in UNIT uniforms stepped out from behind the smoldering remains of the Daleks.

"Miss Smith?"

"Yes! That's me!" She ran over to them.

"We've been deployed by UNIT to protect you at all costs. Sergeant Oswald's orders."

"Well," she smiled. Maybe the Doctor had put in some sort of clause to protect her when the Earth was in danger. Bless him, when he wasn't so irritating. "Let's get some work done shall we?" They walked forward for a little while, all three strangely quiet. Suddenly they heard noises up ahead and ducked behind a car. Sarah Jane peeked around the corner.

"If they've taken the Doctor to the Dalek spaceship, that's where we need to be." Without another word she stepped out in view of the Daleks and surrendered. The two UNIT soldiers looked at each other, before throwing down their weapons and following her.

* * *

"Ooh Daleks. Just like old times, huh?" Jack commented. The Doctor grinned, before it slipped. Jack noticed it and felt guilty for reminding him of her.

"Well, no sense putting this off." He sighed. "Jack, you were brilliant, and Donna, you were brilliant." His two companions smiled sadly at him. "Blimey."

* * *

Sarah Jane and the two UNIT men had successfully escaped being vaporized, and were now heading through the tunnels of the ship. They paused when they heard someone coming their way. They jumped in surprise when a man fell out in front of them.

"You must be Sarah Jane Smith. I represent Torchwood."

"Ah, so that must make you Capt. Jack Harkness."

"My reputation precedes me." He leaned over to kiss her hand.

"Yes it does." She said pointedly. "Captain, this is Lieutenant Cutter and Private Hart."

"Hello." He said with a grin, leaning out to kiss their hands as well, much to their surprise. Sarah Jane sighed.

"Are you here with the Doctor?" That brought his attention back.

"Yes, and Donna Noble. We were captured by the Daleks but I escaped, they're still up there..."

* * *

 _"And the prophecy unfolds."_

 _"The Doctor's soul is revealed. See him, see the darkest side of him!"_

 _"The Doctor. The man who keeps running, never looking back because he care not out of shame. This is my final victory Doctor. I have shown you yourself."_

The Doctor couldn't stop shaking as images flashed in his head, all the people who he lost, because of him: Dodo being vaporized, Adric's ship crashing, leaving Nyssa behind on a planet infected with a deadly virus, Leela, Romana, his family and everyone on Gallifrey screaming as they burned, Jenny his beloved daughter shot right in front of him, bold River, innocent Astrid, brave Mickey...all those companions who were the bravest, kindest, best he'd ever met, and he repaid them by destroying them. By turning them into weapons. Harriet Jones had sacrificed her life just to get him here.

He didn't know how but he knew he was somehow responsible for what had happened to Rose. If only he had been paying more attention, if only...

* * *

"Detonate the reality bomb!" Davros screamed, laughing hysterically. This was it. There was no hope. The Doctor, Donna, Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane and officers Cutter and Hart could only watch in horror as the Daleks did Davros' bidding. They wouldn't die, that would be better than what would really happen. All realities would cease to exist, it would be as if everything never existed. Forever. The Doctor had never felt more hopeless in his life.

"INTRUDER ALERT!" One of the Daleks shouted. The Doctor and the rest spun their heads around as a buzzing noise filled the room. Finally a light exploded just behind one of the consoles. After the light dissipated a brunette woman in a blue catsuit with a black utility belt stood there, before immediately leaping into action.

"Daleks! Stopping them is a good day in my book!" She began chattering as she hit buttons and flipped switches.

 _"Exterminate her!"_ Davros shouted, but every Dalek in the room began to spin around. Davros tried to shoot her with a beam from his finger but it reverted back and electrocuted himself.

"Feedback loop. Love a good feedback loop!" She hit another button and every force field fell. The Doctor and Jack rushed to the console to help her.

"Who are you?" The Doctor asked. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Call me...call me Oswald. I'm here to turn your failures into successes. Y'know, since _she's_ supposed to be here but isn't...well it's up to me now." Lucius' words resounded in the Doctor's head like a lightning bolt.

 _"And another...she will turn your failures into successes!"_

"What the hell are you going on about?" There was only one thing that the Doctor hated the most, and that was the feeling of disorientation, of not knowing what was happening. Nobody noticed the two UNIT officers look at each other in confusion. The woman was a splitting image of their Captain _and_ had the same name...?

"Daleks! I fought them for years, know every trick in the book. My home planet Miridia trained the best warriors in the war."

"The war?" Jack looked at the Doctor's. "You mean the Time War?"

"That's impossible! The Time War is time locked!"

"Got out just in time. Good thing too, nasty business that time lock. Nearly destroyed my ship, thanks."

"B-but..." The Doctor could only stutter. If she hadn't appeared when she did...he shivered at the thought, "You saved us," he ended.

"That was the point, or were you not paying attention during the whole 'failures into successes' thing I was talking about? No, I guess you wouldn't have. Shame, that's such a good line too, took me days to come up with it. Oh well, let's get these planets back before they're missed, shall we?"

* * *

"Only one planet left." Jack said, checking the sensors as Martha, Sarah Jane and the UNIT men took care of Davros and the Daleks.

"Let me guess," the Doctor replied, to which Jack nodded. "There's not enough power to send Earth back, we'll have to drag it with the TARDIS. Alright, everybody in!" He turned to the girl who called herself Oswald. "You too." She nodded but didn't move as everyone else began running for the TARDIS. The Doctor noticed and turned back around, "What are you doing?" She was back behind one of the consoles.

"We can't let the Daleks escape!"

"You're going to kill them? It's genocide!"

"I'm only doing what you can't!" She slammed her hand on a button and the Daleks began to explode.

"Doctor!" He saw Jack in the doorway of his ship.

"Oswald, come on!" The Doctor beckoned to her and she began to run towards him. But a few feet forward she let out a cry and collapsed to the ground.

"One of them must die!" Dalek Caan cackled as he began to catch fire. "The woman who always dies over and over must die again!" The Doctor went to rush forward to her but Jack pulled him back. The Doctor noticed it just in time: cords sparked with electricity across the floor. She must have stepped on a loose wire and had been electrocuted. He called out her name but she didn't reply. She must have died instantly. He looked torn, but there was no way to get to her without getting himself hurt. So he left.

* * *

The Doctor walked around the console of the TARDIS, making sure the six members were flying his ship correctly.

"Adjust the flight drive by two degrees." He told Private Stephen, who seemed to be taking all this in stride, as was Lieutenant Nick.

Soon the Earth was back where it needed to be. The brief moment of rejoicing was cut short by the Doctor's open invitation to help him bury a friend.

The TARDIS landed in a small cemetery near Cardiff, Mickey's childhood home, just two weeks after the battle of Canary Wharf in 2006. The Doctor hated it with all his being but in order to stay true with the timelines Mickey's death had to coincide with his name on the list of the dead during that certain battle, when he'd gone missing but in fact had gone to another universe. The same one Rose was still in. Hopefully.

Martha and Sarah Jane stayed inside to prepare his body for burial while Jack, Nick and Stephen stepped out to dig the hole. The Doctor, with Donna's help flew the TARDIS back in time a week and a half before to purchase the plot and have a gravestone prepared. It read

 _"Mickey Smith"_  
 _Faithful Friend and Companion_  
 _1986-2006_

Nobody knew his middle name.

The ceremony was small but heartfelt on that warm July day. Sarah Jane knew him briefly, Donna had only seen him the one time before his death and Martha and the UNIT soldiers hadn't even met him but everyone present was moved by the look on the Doctor's and Jack's faces.

Deep down inside Martha was incredibly sad as well, for more than she was aware of. The time lines around her swirled as her future changed forever and she would never know.

* * *

After that was done with, the Doctor took everybody home. He beckoned to Sarah Jane to step out with him first.

"You know, you act like such a lonely man, but look at you, you've got the biggest family on Earth!" She lowered her eyes. "I...I'm sorry for what happened with Rose and Mickey." She hugged the Doctor, and he remained quiet as he hugged her back. She let go of him suddenly. "Gotta go! he's only fourteen. It's a long story...I gotta go! And thank you!" She ran down the street a few feet, turned back and waved at him. The Doctor replied with his own wave as Jack with Officers Nick and Stephen stepped out.

"Hey now..." The Doctor frowned. Jack laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm only trying to convince them to work for me. No luck so far, but give me time and one or two lunch dates and I'll have 'em convinced." Stephen was grinning but Nick seemed unamused by it all. Jack's face turned sombre. "She would have liked this one."

"In another time, perhaps," the Doctor replied.

"Doctor, if she's still over there, we need to go."

"No. I already checked, back when we were on the Crucible. Even then the TARDIS couldn't find a way over. For some reason she wouldn't have been able to land. And now the walls are sealed completely, even if I tried the walls would crumble completely." He bit his lip. He had failed her once more, and again there was nothing he could do to change that. He _hated_ not having the power to save the ones most important to him. Rose, the Master, Astrid, Jenny, River Song, Mickey...

"I wish we could do more." Jack commented.

"Me too." Jack noticed his distress and dropped the subject in favor of a new one.

"Barely escaped out of that one alive. Say, did you know that woman?"

"What woman?"

"You don't remember? The woman who saved us from Davros, called herself Oswald...?"

"Oh..." Now that he thought about it, there had been someone else there, a young woman with brown hair who had saved them all. But her face was blurry in his mind, like she had only been a background character instead of one of the main ones. He couldn't even remember her name even though he was sure Jack had said it a moment ago. But his head was telling him he should shrug it off, so he did. Hadn't that happened a lot recently? Wait, not recently, but his whole life...?

"Yeah, course I remember." Jack looked at him suspiciously but didn't reply. Within another second she was totally wiped from his memory and wouldn't remember it for years.

"Well, see ya later Doc." He saluted and the Doctor saluted back. Jack, Nick and Stephen walked away from the TARDIS.

"There are many benefits in working for Torchwood as opposed to UNIT," The Doctor could hear Jack say as they left. "For one, the pizza this side of town is way better..."

Martha stepped out next. The Doctor felt a wave of incredible grief when he looked at her, though he didn't know why. For some reason he was worried about her future, more than the others.

"Are you going to be okay Martha?" She looked at him ruefully.

"I don't know. I feel odd...like..."

"It was supposed to be different." She nodded.

"That's it exactly. Like I missed out on something important...I just don't know what." She looked down at her hand and spun the engagement ring around her finger in thought. "Me and Tom...we were having problems. Decided to call it off for a while. I should find him, say I'm sorry." She laughed. "Look at me, reality was almost ripped apart and I'm complaining about my silly problems."

"Nothing's silly about you Martha. You're brilliant!" She grinned.

"Thanks Doctor."

"And Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing eh? Save the world one more time."

"Consider it done." With that she jogged away to catch up with the three men ahead of her. Jack grinned in delight as he saw her, grabbing her hand in one and Stephen's on the other as they walked.

The Doctor held back a chuckle as he went back inside the TARDIS. Only Donna was left. But as soon as the Doctor stepped inside, he had to grip the edge of the door as a wave of nausea overtook him. Images from a different time flashed in front of his eyes. _Images of getting shot by a Dalek, Donna being trapped in the TARDIS as it fell into flames, a Metacrisis Doctor, Jackie and Mickey working together, and his beautiful, grown up Rose Tyler running for him with inexplicable joy on her face. But it turned dark as the last few images he saw were him leaving Rose to kiss that clone, having to wipe Donna's memory, and him standing alone in the rain._ It was too much. The Doctor collapsed to his knees just as Donna reached his side.

"Doctor, are you alright?" The Doctor held his head, trying to regain control of the swirling timelines in his head.

"Davros' reality bomb must have caused other timelines to bleed through. I can see another time where things came out very differently." He was suddenly glad things didn't turn out like that. Sure, he would have been able to see Rose again, to touch her; but to say goodbye to her again, for good? He didn't think he could've handled it.

"You mean...all realities were destroyed?" He shook his head. It was a ridiculous thing to say, but something only Donna would. As he thought that he saw another Donna, a smart and confident one...with time lord inside her head. Shaking himself out of his stupor, he grabbed his ginger companion by the shoulders. She squeaked in surprise.

"Are you feeling okay Donna?!"

"I should be asking you that,"

"Nononono, I mean your head? Do you feel warm at all?"

"No, I feel fine, now what's this all about?" By this point the Doctor had been able to stand on his feet. She let go of him and he stepped away and looked down, running a hand through his hair like he did when he was stressed.

"We were still successful but...I found Rose, but I lost her again." He turned his expressive brown eyes her way. "And I lost you," Donna looked at him sympathetically and put her hand in his.

"I'm not going anywhere." He looked at her gratefully.

"Alright!" He shouted suddenly and clapped his hands, surprising Donna. "On to the next! Donna, do you want to pick?" She wanted to talk more about this other universe, but she could tell the Doctor was shaken up and trying to forget it, so she dropped it.

"Nah I'm good. Go ahead." The Doctor smiled, his eyes lighting up with an idea.

* * *

After the TARDIS had landed he told Donna the time ship would have a dress waiting in the wardrobe room that would fit the era they had landed in. With an excited smile as she approached the nearest closet, Donna pulled out a gorgeous green dress that looked like it came straight out of the 1800s. Perhaps it had. It was a bit snug but she adored how it made her look. Particularly her bust. Plus, her firey red hair seemed to accent the green in the dress.

When Donna came out to the console room, she realised the Doctor had already stepped outside, leaving the door open for her to follow. She stepped out into snow and a busy little town. She spotted the time lord a few feet away.

"It's Christmas Eve, 1851!" He exclaimed. Donna nodded. This would be good for him, make him forget recent events. But they were barely there two minutes when they heard a woman shouting.

 _"Doctor! Doctor!"_ Donna turned to him sharply.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"No, not that I recall. But it may be in my future. C'mon!" He took off. Donna sighed, before hitching up her skirt and chasing after him.

* * *

 **I'M SORRY I'M SORRY. But what happened to Mickey was important in what happens later. Well, sorta. Anyway...whoever gets the reference to the names of the two UNIT men...well you're living right :D Actor references: Nick Cutter - Douglas Henshall, Stephen Hart - James Murray (yeah, that's why Jack flirted with him ;D)  
**

 **Yep, the brunette was Oswin Oswald. Although Clara's one of my least favorite characters in series 8 I found it pretty cool that I could use Oswin (I liked her in those two episodes pre-modern Clara) for my story in place of Rose/Martha/the Metacrisis etc. Makes it seem more canon and all that ;)**

 **Also, for the record I don't really approve of all the slapping in Doctor Who recently, but I figured it was in character for Donna. Any opinions? Is it too much that it borders on domestic violence? (I know it doesn't even come close to comparing but really, it's getting kind of ridiculous. I mean, River slaps him because of something he hasn't even done yet? Give me a break, if the Doctor had done the same to her there would be RIOTING) Nobody should EVER hit another being, even if they deserve it. Isn't that what they taught us in grade school? Haha.**


	6. 5-Christmas, Living Sand and Bowie Base1

**I know earlier I said I hate word for word rewrites, but to tell the truth, I had already written one like four years back where Rose sticks around after Journey's End and it's so bad I'm never going to post it (maybe. But if I did it'd need like a whole year's worth of editing which I don't have the time to start now). But I revised some of it heavily and I'm using it for this story, except with Donna instead of Rose (so she has the appropriate reactions and such). So if you don't really want to read some of Planet of the Dead, more of Waters of Mars and most of The End of Time, you might want to skip this chapter and the next two. Though please don't. My nineteen year-old past self would greatly appreciate it ^^ (Yes, I'm turning 24 on the 16th. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? lol)  
**

* * *

 _"It's Christmas Eve, 1851!" He exclaimed. Donna nodded. This would be good for him, make him forget recent events. But they were barely there two minutes when they heard a woman shouting._

 _"Doctor! Doctor!" Donna turned to him sharply._

 _"Have you ever been here before?"_

 _"No, not that I recall. But it may be in my future. C'mon!" He took off. Donna sighed, before hitching up her skirt and chasing after him._

 **Chapter Five: Christmas, Living Sand and the Crew of Bowie Base One (The Specials PART 1 of 3)**

"Well, that was exciting!" Donna exclaimed as they reentered the TARDIS. The Doctor didn't disagree with her. Take a league of Cybermen, a giant cyber controller, a mad woman and top that all off with a man who thought he was the Doctor.

He was startled to hear Jackson Lake's companion was named Rosita, but thankfully Donna was there to pull them out of that. He had gotten slapped again by scaring the hell out of Donna for that mess with the cyberpet (although it had been pretty funny after). Once they had found the factory where the cyber controller was at, Donna had been an immense help in getting the children safely out, including Lake's son. And she had encouraged the townspeople to cheer him on after the Doctor had successfully sent the Cybermen to the void. And finally Jackson had invited them to Christmas dinner, which Donna accepted for the both of them.

During that time Jackson had pulled him aside and asked him about Donna.

 _"She's my best friend."_

 _"All those other people though, surely you've had someone special..." He instinctively knew Lake was thinking about his son's mother._

 _"There was one. Shining like gold."_

 _"What happened to her?"_

 _"She...she broke my hearts."_

"Exciting indeed," the Doctor replied to Donna as he sent them into the vortex.

"Were all those people really you?" She had been present when the seal with his history was displayed. "Even the one with the..." The Doctor's head jerked up at that.

"The one with the what?" Donna merely laughed, not caring that she had offended him.

"I'm headin' to bed. Merry Christmas spaceman!" She shouted as she left to head off to her bedroom.

"Merry Christmas Donna." He replied softly, a small smile on his face. That being done with, the Doctor reached under the console and pulled out a strange looking contraption and began working on it.

He was still working on it the next morning when Donna came out, wearing a blue and white spotted long-sleeved blouse and dark jeans.

"What's that?" Donna asked, coming over to watch.

"I've been wanting to take this out for a field test for a while now." The machine beeped, and the Doctor grinned madly. "C'mon Donna, we've got a bus to catch!"

* * *

"This one 'ere?" Donna frowned as the bus pulled up. Cops were surrounding the area, and traveling with an alien who didn't exactly 'follow the rules' was a bit stressful in this situation.

"Yup." He pulled a chocolate egg out of his pocket.

"How long has that been in there?" Donna winced. He held it out under her nose.

"C'mon, it's Easter!"

"I thought it was just Christmas...oh never mind, the bus is here." The two of them got on.

"Just in time." The driver commented as the Doctor swiped his psychic paper over the payment sign. Donna refrained from smacking him. More not following the rules.

The Doctor and Donna sat down on a bench in the front, the Doctor letting Donna sit by the window. After they were situated the Doctor held out his chocolate for a black haired woman sitting across from them.

"Happy Easter!" He exclaimed. The woman just looked at him in confusion.

"Sorry 'bout him, he's a bit excited yeah?" She tapped the Doctor on the arm to get his attention. "What're all the sirens for?" But he didn't answer her, only shushed her. Offended, Donna turned away and crossed her arms over her chest. "Don't know why we're on this bloody bus in the first place. Easter dinner at my mum's, that's what I would have opted for." She continued to mumble and grumble, before the beeping of the Doctor's device cut her off. He pulled it out.

"Ah, we've got excitation. It's picking up something very strange."

"I know the feeling." The dark haired woman whispered, mainly to herself, but Donna caught it.

"Are you ever going to tell me what that thing does?"

"It detects Rondium particles." The Doctor said as the bus entered a tunnel. "But the little dish should go around, that little dish there." He flicked the dish on top in disappointment. Donna rolled her eyes.

"Lou, can you hear them?" A woman in the back asked her husband.

"Hear what, sweetheart?"

"The voices, so many voices, calling to us. Calling so far." That raised the hair on the back of Donna's neck.

"Oh, the little dish is going round."

"You're just like a little kid, you know that, playing with his toy." The Doctor frowned at Donna.

"Oooh look at that, oh!" Donna leapt back as his 'toy' sparked and smoke poured out of it.

"Donna, I need you to hold on tight! Everyone, hold on!"

"I hate you!" Donna cried as the bus began to shake and a bright light filled the area.

* * *

"What the hell was that?" She cried as everything stopped.

"Shh." The Doctor said as he slowly stood up and walked towards the door. Donna and the black-haired woman walked outside.

"Doctor, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." She exclaimed in wonder as she looked around at the sand-filled landscape around them.

* * *

Donna kept quiet as the Doctor explained what had happened to them to the other passengers.

"A door in space." He said, after throwing sand through the portal. Then the driver decided to run through, which proved to be a poor choice. Donna glared at the woman who had said her name was Christina as she ordered them back on the bus.

"I'm not listenin' to 'er." Donna muttered to the Doctor as he pulled her into the bus.

"C'mon." He ushered her in.

* * *

"Something, something is coming. Riding on the wind. And shining."

"What is it?"

"Death. Death is coming."

* * *

"Doctor, I don't like this." Donna said as he pulled him away from the others.

"I know, but we'll get out of this, I promise."

"No, not that. That Christina woman, I don't trust her. She pulled a bloody shovel out of her backpack!"

"What are you suggesting we do?"

"I don't know, tie her up?"

"Now you're just being ridiculous. For all we know she's an archaeologist."

"With an axe?!"

"Well," He huffed. "Just be thankful these people are more help than the ones on the last bus I was stuck on." He shivered. "Alright," He said, brushing off those horrible memories. "now let's find out what's happening here."

* * *

"Woo, it's hot." Donna hated the feeling of sweat on her, so she took off her jacket and rolled up the sleeves of her blue and white blouse, which just happened to have long sleeves. Figures, on today of all days. Ice planet, hello tank top! Desert planet at 100 degrees, a shirt with long sleeves! Bloody space alien.

The Doctor and Christina had taken off in search for anything of interest while she stayed here and made sure everything went smoothly with the passengers. Ten minutes had passed and Donna began to get worried. So had the other passengers. And Carmen wasn't helping by muttering about death and voices every few minutes.

"Keep working!" She shouted at Nathan and Angela as they attempted to start the bus. They had stopped and were looking at Donna with worried looks on their faces.

"Uh, miss, it won't turn on." Donna leapt out of her seat and went to investigate.

"Oh bloody hell. We're out of petrol." She pulled out her cell phone and called the Doctor.

"Doctor, it's Donna. We did everything you asked, but in our attempts to get the bus started, well, we're out of petrol. This bus isn't going to move even if it wanted to." The line on the other end stayed silent. "Doctor, we're starting to freak out here!" She gasped as the line clicked off. "Well, I never!" She turned to the passengers, realising she could have a riot on her hands if she wasn't careful. "Okay everyone, we're going to stay calm, remember what the Doctor said, he'll get us out of this." And she prayed to God she was right.

* * *

It was another twenty minutes when Barclay spotted two figures dashing towards them.

"It's the Doctor and Christina, but what the hell is that?" It was a storm, but Donna rightly suspected it wasn't an ordinary storm.

"Run, run, run, run, run, run!" Carmen shouted.

* * *

"Donna, place these clamps over the hub caps!" The Doctor handed her two clamps. She ran to do put them on on the right side while the Doctor did the left.

"What are these?" She asked as they reentered the bus.

"Our ticket home." He said, sitting in the driver's seat.

* * *

"I need something gold."

"Oh no you don't."

"Why, has she got gold?" She gasped as Christina pulled a large golden chalice out of her backpack.

"I knew I didn't trust her!" Donna winced as the Doctor banged on the highly expensive artifact.

"I hate you." Christina said.

"Join the club." Donna muttered.

* * *

It was a harrowing trip but the Doctor had managed to get the bus flying, _flying_ of all things, back into the wormhole and safely in London. As they flew over London, Donna wondered if her gramps was watching them now. Imagine his shock to see a bus flying in the air through his telescope! She chuckled at the thought. She turned just in time to see Christina looking at the Doctor with a lustful look on her face.

"Oh no you don't." She reached out and grabbed the woman by the shirt, pulling her back. "You've been relieved of your position as leader." She was the only woman in his life now, thank you. Granted she was more like his mother than anything, but still, he didn't need to be kissing her, a thief of all people.

Plus the last thing he needed now was to be reminded of _her_.

* * *

"I used to work for UNIT, didn't I tell you?" the Doctor commented to Donna as they walked back to the TARDIS. Donna scowled as Christina ran up to them. She didn't like her at all, which was apparent.

"Little blue box, just like you said. Right then, off we go. Come on then Doctor, show me the stars!"

"No." The Doctor shook his head.

"What?"

"I said no."

"I saved your life. And you saved mine."

"So?"

"I'm surrounded by police, I'll go to prison!" Donna scoffed.

"As you should. You stole a chalice that's worth millions! Well, until he destroyed it."

"Donna," The Doctor reprimanded her.

"But you're really not going to let her get off with this, are you? We don't let others who commit crimes get away with what they've done."

"Oi, I'm right here!"

"Hush you two!" The Doctor held up a hand to the both of them, which got them to shut up.

"Christina, people have traveled with me and I've lost them. I do things to them that I can never take back."

"But you have Donna."

"Donna's all I need. She takes care of me. I don't need anything more." Especially someone who painfully reminded him of Martha and her feelings for him. But he knew that without Donna, he'd do something dangerous and stupid. "Goodbye Christina." They watched in silence as coppers pulled the thief away. The Doctor turned to his companion with imploring eyes.

"Donna, she did save my life, all of our lives in fact. If she wouldn't have had that golden chalice we'd all be dead." By this point Donna had given up. She shook her head and turned away.

"Do whatever you feel is right. I'll be in the swimming pool if you need me, I feel like I'm coated in that bloody sand. It's never coming off I suspect." With that she entered the TARDIS and shut the door.

* * *

 _"Because your song is ending sir. It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And, Doctor...Oh, but then...there will be a knock four times. And someday, you'll face a figure too horrible to imagine. Beware the Viltra Queen!"_

* * *

The Doctor walked into the swimming pool area and found his companion sitting in the water, merely soaking. He tried to clear his face so she wouldn't notice the anxiety that had filled his being when Carmen spoke those haunting words to him. She looked up at him as she heard him approach.

"Oi you. Did you free her?"

"Yeah. She flew away in the bus." He chuckled and Donna couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Join me." She said. The Doctor hesitated, before Donna splashed him with water. He leapt back in shock.

"Oi, this is an expensive suit!"

"That's a bloody lie. You probably stole it, knowing you. You're not offended by people who steal things, are you?" She'd always been raised to respect other peoples' property, things that people had bought with hard earned money or been given by someone they loved. The Doctor sighed as he pulled a pair of swim trunks off a hanger in the corner. He reached up and pulled over a screen so Donna wouldn't see him changing.

"I stole the TARDIS Donna." He said from the other side of the screen as he pulled off his suit and put on the trunks.

"Really?" She should have known. "Were you ever planning to give it back?"

"Not really. In fact, this wasn't the one I was going to choose." He came out from behind the screen and stopped at the edge of the pool. "It was me and my granddaughter Susan. As soon as I entered, I knew she was the one, the one I would use to travel the universe." He had to think hard, but he could've sworn there was someone else there inside the TARDIS growth room back on Gallifrey.

 _"_ _ _Sorry. But you're about to make a very big mistake. Don't steal that one, steal this one. The navigation system's knackered, but you'll have much more fun._ "_ Who had she been? He could barely see a face, one that he almost recognized, but the image was gone in a second.

"You alright?" Donna had been staring at him as he had mused. He snapped out of it.

"Yeah. Heads up!" Donna cried out in shock as the Doctor began running and cannon-balled into the middle of the pool, causing a wave to rise up and splash over Donna, drenching her.

"Oh you are so dead space boy!" The Doctor laughed as Donna swam to him and attempted to strangle him.

* * *

"How do you feel? Up for another trip?"

"Yeah, I think I got all that sand out of my hair." She smiled, ready for some more adventure. She grabbed a towel that had been sitting on the Captain's chair and rubbed her hair dry.

"Funny, Christina complained about that too." The Doctor grinned at her as he slammed a lever on the console, sending the TARDIS out of the vortex.

"Ta-da!" The Doctor shouted in glee.

"Where are we?"

"Ah, Donna, since when do I ever let myself spoil the surprise for you?"

"Since never." She mock frowned, before shaking her head and running to the door. She opened it and gasped in wonder. The Doctor strode to her side.

"The red planet!"

"Mars?"

"Yup." He said popping the 'p'. "Good thing the TARDIS has these shields." The Doctor nodded, before shouting. "OH!" Donna jumped in fright. "I've got just the thing!" he ran off, Donna growled in annoyance. He came back with an orange spacesuit.

"Trying to start a new fashion trend?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"No it...I had it when...Rose..." He looked at the helmet, where there was a light imprint of a kiss on the top. That was so long ago, he had nearly forgotten...

 _"I want that spacesuit back in one piece, you got that?"_

 _"Yes sir!"_

 _"It's funny, because people back home think that space travel's going to be all whizzing about and teleports and anti- gravity...But it's not, is it? It's tough."_

 _"I'll see you later."_

 _"Not if I see you first."_

He didn't need to say another word. Donna came up and hugged him. He thanked her gratefully.

"Wait a minute...you got another one of those?" She asked as they pulled away. The Doctor frowned.

"Never thought of that." He paused. Only one spacesuit. "Do you want to go someplace else?" Donna noticed the slight disappointment in his eyes.

"Oh go on then, have this one on me!" The Doctor frowned further, not wanting to go on another adventure without her (the trip on Midnight hadn't gone so well). But then he remembered something.

"Wait, when I reach the base, if they have the right equipment, I can transport you there, just like I did with you in the library!"

"The same one I got 'saved' to?" Her voice rose in displeasure.

"Yes." He didn't seem to notice her discomfort at the subject. Donna rolled her eyes. The Doctor walked over to the console.

"Until I can get you over there, we can communicate through the headset." Donna nodded, understanding.

"See you in a bit." Donna said to him as he walked out the TARDIS doors. He waved back at her as he shut the doors.

* * *

 _"State your name, rank and intention."_

 _"The Doctor, Doctor, Fun."_

* * *

"Does it have to keep saying that?" The Doctor looked at the robot in slight disgust.

"I think it's funny!" Roman replied.

"I hate funny robots." He said quietly. Suddenly Donna's voice came in from the suit that the Doctor had removed.

"Doctor? Are you there? Can you transport me over now?"

"Who's that?" The woman in charge replied.

"Oh that's-that's my companion, Donna, her name is Donna, can I transport her over?" She looked at him questioningly.

"We're harmless, merely travelers, that's what we are, right Donna?" He yelled the last bit to the helmet.

"That's us!" Donna's voice shouted back. The woman nodded warily. The Doctor got out his sonic and prepared for the transport. In a minute Donna slowly appeared.

"Thanks." She said, dusting her shirt off. The Doctor nodded.

"Okay, so I'm the Doctor, this is Donna Noble, and you are...?"

"Oh come on!" The Captain said. "We're the first off-world colonists in history! Everyone on planet Earth knows who we are!"

"You're the first." The Doctor said, realizing. He looked at them all in awe. "The first humans on Mars. Then this is-"

"Bowie Base One." He and the Captain replied at the same time. Donna furrowed her brow. _Must be after my time._ She thought. As always by habit now, she tuned the Doctor out as he started monologuing.

"2059." She heard him say, confirming her thought.

"OH!" He shouted, startling Donna again. "My head is so stupid! You're Captain Adelaide Brooke!" He then named off the rest of the crew. Donna was unaware that the Doctor knew this was the day they would all die.

"Deputy Edward Gold. Tarak Ital, MD. Nurse Yuri Kerensky. Senior Technician Steffi Ehrlich. Junior Technician Roman Groom. Geologist Mia Bennet. You're only 27 years old." Donna frowned at this, slowly putting the pieces together.

"As I said Doctor, everyone knows our names."

"Oh...they'll never forget them. What's the date, tell me the exact date!"

"November 21st, 2059." Donna saw the Doctor flinch. Knowing his driving skills, she knew it could only mean something bad.

"Right. Okay fine." He spoke quietly.

"Is there something wrong?" The woman named Steffi spoke.

"What's so important about my age?" Mia asked. The Doctor merely grabbed Donna by the shoulders and pulled her in the direction of the exit.

"We should...go. We really, should go." This was the last place he wanted to take Donna. He dragged her towards the door, fully intending on leaving.

"I-I'm sorry, with all of my hearts." Donna caught his slip up in mentioning his two hearts. She also heard the sad resignation in his voice. "But...it's one of those very rare times I've got no choice."

"Doctor, what choice?" Donna spoke up, but the Doctor hushed her.

"It's been an honor, seriously a great honor!" He went around and shook all their hands while Donna stood by in confusion.

"Thank you!" He saluted Captain Brooke and moved toward where Donna was. Ordinarily she'd push her luck and ask him what was going on again but the worry in his voice frightened her. She was just about to turn around when the Doctor spoke again.

"Hold on, there's the other two, Margaret Caine and Andrew Stone."

* * *

Both Donna and the Doctor frowned when they heard the growling on the overhead speaker.

"Oh, we really should go." The others huddled around the computer.

"Doctor and Mrs. Noble with me." The Captain ordered.

"Oh we're not...oh what's the use?" The Doctor tried to object at her order but Adelaide demanded that his spacesuit be locked away.

"This all started when you two arrived here, you're with me!" He started to move forward.

"Doctor, wait." She pulled him back so nobody would hear them.

"Donna-" He implored.

"No, tell me what's going on! What did you mean, no choice?"

"Donna, listen to me, today is November 21st, 2059. Bowie Base One. I don't know how or why, but today is the day this base is destroyed, along with everyone here." Donna gasped.

"What? But..."

"No buts! We have to leave!"

"But we need to help them! Save them!" The Doctor sighed, looking around to make sure they still weren't being overheard.

"Don't make this Pompeii all over again, you know the damage this could cause! Every event that happens here triggers another one. I can't explain it all now but what happens here leads to the human race reaching for the stars, and we can't change anything, not one single detail. If we do, the humans back home might never leave Earth. Space exploration, mingling with aliens, the continuation of the human race would all cease to exist. We really _have_ _to leave._ "

"Then why don't we?" Donna questioned. But the Doctor couldn't reply. He only stared out past her.

"Doctor, Noble, I said with me!" Adelaide yelled at them. They followed without another word.

* * *

When Captain Brooke said to split up, Donna went to go with Tarak, but the Doctor pulled her to his side.

"Don't touch anything, and stay with me." Donna stayed silent, nodding. She saw the fear in his eyes. There wasn't anything he could change, and they both knew that. Adelaide, Donna and the Doctor went left while Tarak went right. After a few minutes she soon knew it was a mistake splitting up when Tarak didn't reply. Donna heard a noise and stepped away to see what it was.

Doctor, Captain Brooke!" She shouted, slowing. She was horrified at the sight of what looked like Andy Stone drowning Tarak.

"Stay back Donna." The Doctor stepped in front of her and gently pushed her back while he and Adelaide advanced.

"What is it?" She said, more terrified than she cared to admit.

"I don't know." He replied, backing away. "We've got to go." He slowly backed up until he reached Donna. He grabbed her hand and yelled.

"Run!" Donna screamed as the saw the water creatures leap up to chase them. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Donna couldn't help but chuckle.

"This never gets old, does it?" The Doctor gave her a small smile, pulling her faster.

* * *

Once they were safely behind the door, Donna sighed. While Adelaide spoke to her crew, Donna whispered to the Doctor.

"Alien life?"

"I don't know. I just don't. I don't even want to know!" She grimaced at the water creature gazing at them in sick hunger. _Or thirst_ she thought with disgust.

"Can you talk?" The Doctor spoke to it, with no reply. "Human beings are 60 percent water, which makes them the perfect host."

"What for?" Adelaide said, who had rejoined them.

"I don't know." The Doctor repeated. "I never will. Because we have to go." He placed a hand around Donna's arm, drawing her closer to himself. "Whatever started here, we can't see it to the end." Donna jumped in fright as the water creature threw itself at the door.

"Time for more running! Abandon ship!"

* * *

When they reached Gadget, Donna refused to get on the contraption, saying it would kill them all.

"Come on, it's perfectly safe, I'll be driving it."

"That's what worries me." But she didn't argue further as she climbed on the front while the Doctor got on back and Adelaide behind him. She held on for dear life as the robot sped faster than it had ever been programmed for. Then they abandoned the robot and ran the rest of the way.

"Blimey, the distance!" The Doctor said. Both he and Donna were puffing from the exertion. "You could do with bikes in this place." Donna laughed out loud. "What, what is it?"

"Or segways?" The Doctor remembered the certain memory she was referring to, and it made him laugh.

"Yes, segways!"

"Every pound in weight equals three tons of fuel!" Adelaide retorted.

"Yeah I know, but...segways!" Donna chuckled again.

* * *

"This is Captain Brooke. I'm declaring Action One. Repeat to all crew members, this is Action One with immediate effect." The Doctor stood next to Donna, who was gazing sadly at the infected Maggie.

"Evacuation." He whispered to her. Donna spun around.

"But...if they're evacuating, isn't there a chance of...?"

"Infection!" He sped over to Adelaide. Donna sighed. The Doctor was right, water was patient, all these people could be infected. None of them could leave. Donna wanted to get off this base. _Now._ She was relieved to see the Doctor come over her way.

"We really should leave..." He said for the billionth time. She glanced the Doctor's way, knowing exactly what he was thinking. She was proven right when he sped into action.

"Adelaide!"

Donna ran right after him.

* * *

Donna listened this time as the Doctor explained to Adelaide about fixed points in time. She was surprised to hear him talk about the battle with Davros and the Daleks, fifty years ago from this day, yet just a few weeks ago for them.

The Dalek let Adelaide live. Donna had learned long ago just how important fixed points in time were. So important that not even the Daleks would go against them.

The Doctor didn't hesitate to tell Adelaide about her heritage and what someday would become of all that happened on this day. But he stopped when Adelaide asked him the question.

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"As consolation." Adelaide looked between the Doctor and Donna in question. Donna just lowered her eyes knowingly.

* * *

The Doctor and Donna watched as the crew prepared to take off. Donna couldn't help but question why the Doctor said the base would be destroyed when it looked like they would all get out alive.

Meanwhile the Doctor was dreading every second. He knew that, no matter what they did, this fixed point in time would happen just as it was supposed to. Which meant that all these people would die.

The crew bustled around, not noticing the beeping sound in the background.

"What's that noise?" Donna said aloud. Captain Brooke stopped, hearing Donna's question.

"Everyone stop! Mia, everyone, shut up!" She raised her hand in the air.

"It's the module sensors." The man named Gold said, looking at the computer screen. "Exterior 12, the cameras are down but there's pressure on top of the module." Everyone gathered around him.

"Two signals...right above us."

"That means...they're on the roof?" Steffi said fearfully, gazing upwards. Everyone else followed suit, as if the ceiling would suddenly crash down on them.

"Are they getting through?" Donna whispered to the Doctor, but suddenly stopped in fear when a creaking noise resounded through the roof. Everyone stayed silent and unmoving.

Everyone started worrying and speculating about what could happen, which only made things worse. Suddenly Adelaide shushed them.

"Everyone, listen to me. That's _ten feet_ of steel combination up there." She pointed to the ceiling to demonstrate. "We need all the protein packs or we're going to starve. _Now keep working!_ " They all jumped up to do her bidding.

The Doctor turned to Donna.

"That's it, I'm getting you out of here."

"What about you?"

"I'm walking back remember?"

"But Doctor, all these people, they're going to make it out, doesn't that say something?" The Doctor remained silent. "They're going to make it out, right?" She asked again.

"It's a fixed point in time, we can't fight that." Before she could reply, the Doctor cut her off by sending her back to the TARDIS.

After Donna was gone the Doctor stood there, alone, holding his spacesuit, watching the crew sadly. Adelaide, Edward, Steffi, Roman, Yuri, Mia...they would all die.

He turned around and walked away.

* * *

 **Nearly every single one of Donna's comments about Lady Christina are pretty much everything my friend said when we watched the episode together for her first time. She _really_ didn't like the thief haha. ;) I don't mind her myself, I just didn't like that the Doctor tolerated the fact that she stole stuff for a living. lol  
**

 **I hate that scene where Clara tells the First Doctor to choose a different TARDIS. Excuuuse me Moffat, the TARDIS chose him, don't you remember? She said so! (Neil Gaiman should be head writer :P) And the navigation's not 'knackered', the TARDIS is just stubborn about where she lands ;) But y'know...canon. XP**

 **It certainly is weird writing Donna in these episodes. It wasn't actually my goal to save Donna when I started this fic (I like to respect canon for the most part), but when I realised the Metacrisis wouldn't be there I couldn't resist ;) Hope you guys don't mind either.**


	7. 6 - The Wolf's Call

_"But Doctor, all these people, they're going to make it out, doesn't that say something?" The Doctor remained silent. "They're going to make it out, right?" She asked again._

 _"It's a fixed point in time, we can't fight that." Before she could reply, the Doctor cut her off by sending her back to the TARDIS._

 _After Donna was gone the Doctor stood there, alone, holding his spacesuit, watching the crew sadly. Adelaide, Edward, Steffi, Roman, Yuri, Mia...they would all die._

 _He turned around and walked away._

 **Chapter 6: The Deadly Water, the Wolf's Call and He is Returning! (The Specials PART 2 of 3)**

"You can't-" Donna stopped, realizing she was in the TARDIS.

She ran over to the TARDIS console screen and turned it on. The screen was blank and crackled as a signal tried to break through.

She heard through the Doctor's headset as the crew slowly started dying one by one. Roman suddenly cut off by a single drop, Steffi screaming in terror, Edward exploding the shuttle.

Donna started sobbing. She couldn't handle it. It was too much like Pompeii.

After the explosion, she spoke to the Doctor through the headset, trying to keep her voice under control.

"Doctor, you alright?"

 _"Yeah Donna, there's one last thing I gotta do. Wait for me."_ So she waited, there wasn't much else she could do, stuck here. After a few minutes she heard Adelaide's voice through the Doctor's headset, just barely able to make out the words.

 _"It can't be stopped, don't die with us."_

 _"No."_ He objected. _"Because someone told me just recently, they said I was going to die."_ Donna gasped, thinking she must have heard him incorrectly. _"They said he will knock four times and I think I know what that means!"_ Donna stepped back from the monitor. _Why didn't he tell me?_

Her further thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging over the headset. _Once. Twice. Thrice._

 _"Three knocks is all you're getting!"_ The Doctor shouted. He suddenly started talking, so much and so fast that Donna knew he was losing control. If she were there she would slap him silly until he realised what he was doing. Adelaide tried to object, but all those rules the Doctor had been clinging to suddenly seemed to fly out the window. For once Donna thought _If only Rose were here. She'd be the only one able to pull him out of this. This spiral will destroy him eventually if he doesn't stop!_

 _"Yes, because there are laws. There are laws of time. Once upon a time there were people in charge of those laws, but they died. They all died. Do you know who that leaves? Me!"_ His voice grew louder with every word.

 _"It's taken me all these years to realize the laws of time are mine, AND THEY WILL OBEY ME!"_

Suddenly there was a loud crash and the sound cut off from the communicator. Donna was partly glad though, she didn't want to hear the Doctor lose his mind more and more with each passing moment.

* * *

"We're not just fighting the flood, we're fighting time itself, AND I'M GONNA WIN!"

* * *

The Doctor stopped and ran over to his helmet. He yelled into the communicator, praying it was still working.

"Donna! Donna can you hear me! I need you to bring the TARDIS here! I NEED TO SAVE THEM!" But all that replied was crackling. He was cut off from her. He threw the helmet away in frustration. The vision in front of him was starting to swim. He couldn't be bothered to wonder why he was doing this and that what he was doing was wrong. All that mattered was this struggle he'd been fighting against all his life, letting it beat him down continually. He'd lost Susan, he'd lost Gallifrey, he'd lost Jenny and he'd lost Rose.

No more. He'd be damned if he wouldn't get his way this time.

"I'm still not beaten!"

* * *

Donna suddenly screamed as she heard the door to the TARDIS unlock and open. Thinking it was one of the flood, she scrambled for the mallet hanging under the console. She nearly laughed in relief when she noticed it was only Gadget the Robot. She stepped back as the robot moved over to the console and flipped buttons and pressed switches. _The Doctor must be controlling it,_ she figured. Suddenly the TARDIS was in flight. Donna leaned over to the robot and patted it on the head thankfully.

She smiled in joy when she saw Yuri, Mia, Adelaide and the Doctor rush in. He had saved them! The TARDIS rocked in flight as it flew away from Mars and the exploding base. Deep inside she still wondered if this was the right thing though...

* * *

Donna decided to wait inside while the Doctor talked to the survivors outside. She moved over to the screen and flicked it on. The screen sparked dangerously and Donna remembered it was the switch on the left, not the right that turned it on. She finally got an image of the Doctor outside in the snow talking to Captain Adelaide.

* * *

Donna stepped back away from the console in sheer horror, the Doctor's words buzzing through her head.

 _"The whole of history could change! The future of the human race! No one should have that much power!"_

 _"Tough." He seemed to be addicted to this power._

 _"You should have left us there." Adelaide replied in a horrified voice._

 _"Adelaide, I've done this sort of thing before. In small ways, save some little people, but never anyone as important as you-oh, I'm good!" He was acting so uncaring and pompous. Adelaide was furious._

 _"Little people? What, like Mia and Yuri? Who decides they're so unimportant? You?!" The Doctor merely looked at her triumphantly._

 _"For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner!" He scowled bitterly. "That's who I am: the Time Lord Victorious!"_

 _"And there's no one to stop you." An all powerful Time Lord losing his mind._

 _"No." Not even Donna?_

 _"This is wrong, Doctor! I don't care who you are!" She retorted harshly. "The Time Lord Victorious is wrong!" She shouted at him._

 _"That's for me to decide." He bit back arrogantly.  
_  
Donna shook her head in disbelief. She'd slap him into his next regeneration if she wasn't so scared of him right now. _"And there's no one to stop you!"_ What if he had really lost his mind? She felt tears of fright fill her eyes, the monstrosity of it all being the most terrifying. For the first time in her life she truly was afraid of the Doctor. She thought she was helping him, that he was making progress after losing Rose and then Mickey. It turned out she hardly meant anything to him at all, not if he acted like he was the only one in the universe that mattered.

She barely heard the Doctor and Adelaide over the intercom through her sobs.

 _"Is there anything you can't do?"_

 _"Not any more."_

She reached out and hurriedly flipped the switch off, shutting the screen down. She backed up and leaned against one of the coral supports and wiped the tears out of her eyes. She had a decision to make. She hated to do it, but she had to leave, not if he continued to act like this. She didn't want to get hurt, or worse. She knew the Doctor would never lay a hand on her but, with the way he was acting, he might do something stupid that could get them both killed. And Donna had too much to let him do that to her.

* * *

Meanwhile the Doctor fell to the ground in repentance, Adelaide's words burning through his head. _What have I done? What would Donna think?_ He looked around the corner and to his horror, saw a face he hadn't seen in years. She wasn't really there, she was just a figment of his imagination. _She couldn't be...  
_

She was so young, a girl of barely nineteen, dressed in the same outfit she had worn when he first saved her life back in the basement of Henrik's, oh so long ago. Back when he told her the earth revolved under their feet at a million miles an hour and if they let go...

 _"Forget me Rose Tyler."_

The image of Rose looked at him sadly. What would the Rose he first met think of him now? Would she be afraid of him? Disgusted? Would she run as fast as she could in the other direction? As he stared at the image of Rose he was horrified to see her eyes begin to glow golden.

 _"I am the Bad Wolf!" the memory screamed at him.  
_

He heard a howling in his head so loud he nearly cried out and had to hold his head as it raged. The Wolf's call tore through his head with lightning strength. He remembered when Rose held the power of time in her hands, and with that she had done good, the exact opposite of him now. She was so much stronger than him, even then. He hadn't realised it until now.

The Bad Wolf versus the Time Lord Victorious, the complete antithesis of each other. He was nothing compared to her light, her kindness, her strength to hold on to her humanity even when in the possession of goddess-like powers.

 _"How can I let go of this? I bring life!"  
"But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!"  
"But I can. The sun and the moon, the day and night. But why do they hurt?"_

 _"It's taken me all these years to realize the laws of time are mine, AND THEY WILL OBEY ME!"_

"I've gone too far." He gasped. As he acknowledged his mistakes, the howling in his head finally receded to a point where he could open his eyes.

He had been playing dangerously, doing things abominable to his own standards and even to the Time Lords'. He had been able to keep control of it until now. He knew he was losing control, ever since he heard he was going to die. He had gone too far, the sheer power of it all had changed him into something horrible. Was he really losing his mind?

He was startled as suddenly a different sound, a song filled his mind, one that he recognized. The Ood were calling to him.

"No!" He couldn't do it. Not yet. He pulled himself up and stumbled into the TARDIS.

He was shocked to see Donna standing there with tears in her eyes, a look of resolution on her face.

"Donna, you...you..." Had she heard?

"I heard everything." He began to come over to her, but Donna stepped back fearfully. "Stay away from me!" She shouted at him. The Doctor stepped back in confusion. His best friend, the person always there to lend a hand or a hug, and she was afraid of him?

"Donna?" He asked again, his eyes full of hurt and doubt.

"What are you?" Donna struggled out to say as she put a hand over her mouth. "What are you becoming?" She gazed at him with fright in her eyes. " _I_ can't even stop this 'Time Lord Victorious' can I?" She continued. "I thought I was different, I thought I was helping you change, making a difference in your life. You told Christina that I was all you needed, that I helped take care of you. How can I when you do this to yourself?!" He felt tears falling from his eyes as he realized what he had truly done to Donna.

"Donna, I don't...I can't-" He leaned one hand against the console behind him for support. "What's happening to me?" He implored. "I just..." He nearly choked on his next words. _"I don't want to die! Rose, I..."_ He turned away. _  
_

Wondering why he was thinking of Rose now, she realised he was going through serious mental trauma. She made herself come up and wrap her arms around the last of the time lords and held him tighter than she ever had before. She nearly didn't go through with it, but she forced herself to.

"Doctor, I think it's time I left." The Doctor pulled back, letting a sharp intake of breath out of his mouth. "Not for good." She was quick to say. "Until you work this out. I can't be around you when I'm afraid of what you're going to do next." The Doctor sighed with relief. He needed some time on his own anyway to work out what was happening to him.

"Home then?"

"Yeah." Without another word he landed the TARDIS just outside her home. Donna stopped at the door.

"I want to be there, at the end. Once you know what to do, come and get me. I don't want you to die on your own, if you really are going to die." She sniffed involuntarily. "Let me say goodbye you daft old man." The Doctor smiled sadly as she left. The TARDIS seemed empty without her presence. He hadn't been alone since he took Martha home.

Suddenly the Cloister bell went off in the TARDIS, and the Doctor forgot everything that had happened in the last ten minutes.

"No!"

* * *

After several trips had passed, consisting of seeing the phosphorous carousel of the Great Magellan Gestalt, saving a planet from the Red Carnivorous Maw, naming a galaxy Allison and a quite particularly interesting adventure involving marrying Queen Elizabeth and a horde of Zygons (however, there was something else, a big something else, he just couldn't remember. Had he met some of his other selves? A future companion? He could've sworn one of those Moments was really important...The memory was fading fast, and he didn't bother to hold on to them), the Doctor found himself under the TARDIS console, installing a beeper for the TARDIS so he could lock it like a car. He knew Donna would scoff at such a ridiculous thing, but he knew Rose would...she would find it amusing, wouldn't she?

He was alarmed to find he couldn't remember. He used to remember every reaction she would have made in every situation. It had been too long since he'd seen her, since she chose to leave him. He sighed sadly. It was time he stopped running.

Dejectedly, he crawled out from under the TARDIS console and landed on the Ood Sphere. He wasn't in his right mind, he knew it, as he threw on a straw hat and lei he had picked up at a festival on Kalavose Three.

* * *

"You used her!" The Doctor shouted at Ood Sigma in a fit of rage. "You looked inside my head used her just to get me here! How dare you!" People who had done much less against him and been punished more. The wrath on his face was unimaginable, but Sigma wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"We used every possible way to get you here, you kept ignoring us. We thought the Rose girl would be enough."

"Well, I'm here now. Let's get this over with." He was still upset, but he knew the Ood was right.

* * *

The Doctor ran as fast as he could back to the TARDIS. He was shaken to the core with the knowledge of the Master's return. The Master had completely destroyed a year of Martha's life, he couldn't do the same to Donna, the Doctor wouldn't let it happen!

The TARDIS sped as fast as she could through the vortex, knowing the desperateness of the situation.

* * *

The Doctor stood on a hill, scanning the wasteland for any sign of the Master.

He just felt so...empty. His downward spiral, it hadn't been this bad since just after the Time War. But Rose had fixed that the first time. And now she wasn't here to pick up the broken pieces. Donna was great, she really was. But she wasn't Rose. He felt horrible for comparing them but the truth was, he wished Rose was here now more than anything. As he always did.

But he had to concentrate on finding the Master. If he truly was here, then he'd be more dangerous than ever, and the Doctor needed his mind completely clear and unburdened, ready to fight the war to come.

He caught a whiff of the Master. He was moving. The renegade Time Lord could sense him too. He nearly jumped out of his skin as four loud _bangs_ rang through the empty air. The Master.

The four beats resounded again. The Doctor took off running towards the sound as it filled his head and body.

 _One! Two! Three! Four!_

A third time, a fourth time.

 _"There will be a knock, four times."_

The Doctor finally caught up with the Master, who stood on a hill, looking down at him.

The Master gave an unearthly shout and took off into the sky. The Doctor stood there alone, worried. For both his and Donna's futures, as well as the entire planet. He took off again as the thought of keeping Donna and her world safe spurred him on.

And suddenly they were face to face. The Master laughed evilly as his face changed.

"Please let me help!" The Doctor cried, distressed over his former friend's appearance. "You're burning up your own life force!" The Master gave him a disgusted glance and grinned, before disappearing over the edge, his laughter burning through the silent air.

* * *

Donna sat down on a dining room chair and buried her face in her hands. Feelings of distress, loneliness and fear overwhelmed her. She shouldn't have left him, she was the one who was supposed to be there for him. What if he did something incredibly stupid to himself? His death might end up being her fault. She should have-

"You alright?" Donna looked up to see her grandfather Wilf looking at her with concern on his face.

"No not really." She admitted. Wilf pulled up a chair next to her.

"Donna, why are you here? Where's the Doctor? Did he...leave you?"

"No!" Donna shouted with a little more force than necessary. She leaned back in resignation.

"I left on my own." Wilf tried to object but Donna placed a hand on his arm. "For only a little while. The Doctor...he's not doing too well right now. Thinks he's gonna die soon. I wasn't safe around him."

"He didn't hurt you did he?" Wilf found it hard to accept, but he would believe anything his beloved granddaughter said was true.

"No, he didn't hurt me. But can we not talk about that now? Let's talk about something else. Have you spotted anything in the sky recently?" _How about a flying bus?_ She held back a grin at the thought.

Wilf sighed, and dropped the subject...for now.

* * *

 _And so it came to pass that the players took their final places, making ready the events that were to come..._

* * *

The Doctor had finally found the Master. He didn't flinch as the Master shot bolts of energy, to his right, then to his left. He kept walking forward.

He staggered in pain as the final blow went right to his hearts. The Master smiled evilly as the energy rippled through the Time Lord's body.

He collapsed into the Master's waiting arms. He held him there for a moment, before regaining his senses and letting him drop to the ground. The Doctor struggled on the ground, his hearts racing with the energy pumping through them. Not fatal, but not harmless. His eyes clearly showed the pain that wracked his body.

The Master leaned over him and spoke of his estates, their past on Gallifrey,

"We used to run across those fields all day, calling up to the sky." _Theta and Koshkei, once the best of friends._ Now one leaned over the other delighting in his most hated enemy's pain. "Look at us now." The Master said rather bitterly, as if wishing for those days of the past to come alive again.

The Doctor begged him to stop as the Master went on and on about food, losing control.

Finally the Master stopped his ranting and the Doctor was struck with an idea.

"What if I asked you for help?" Something was coming, and he knew he couldn't do it alone. But to join forces with his worst enemy? The Master smiled and laughed in disbelief. "There are more at work today than you and me."

"Oh yeah?" The Master replied uncaringly.

"I've been told, something's returning."

"And here I am!" The Master shook his head, annoyed.

"No, something more."

"But it hurts!" The Master ignored him. The Doctor's explanations were lost on him. The Master, insisting that the noise was louder, crawled over to the Doctor still lying on the ground. "Can't you hear it? It's calling to me."

"I'm sorry." The Doctor didn't believe him. The Master slowly put his hands on the Doctor's face and his forehead against his

"Listen!" He whispered.

Suddenly four steady beats rang through the Doctor's head. The Doctor pulled away from the Master in surprise.

"I heard it!" The Doctor whispered in disbelief. The Master cackled in hysterical joy at the Doctor's revelation.

"IT'S REAL!" Then he took off into the stars.

The Doctor stumbled as he got up, slowly regaining his strength from the Master's blow.

"No!" _He can't get away!_ He thought as the Master was taken by masked men and transported to a ship in the air. He ran over towards them but jumped as bullets shot around him. He dodged them as best he could. "Let him go!" But one of the hooded men knocked him out from behind. The Master was taken and the Doctor lay unconscious upon the cold ground.

* * *

It was Christmas Day. Donna stood in front of her house, staring up into the cloudy sky. It was cold, almost bitterly cold, like a sheet of ice had been blanketed over all of London, over the world maybe. It had been four months since she'd last seen the Doctor, and she wondered about him every day. She remembered the Doctor saying how something was drawing them together, and she had hope that she'd see him again.

 _"First I met you. Then I met your grandfather, then I met you again. All of time and space and I meet you twice. It's like something's drawing us together..."_

The worst part was these nightmares she started having. A man was laughing in her dreams, and the insane look in his eyes terrified her more than the Doctor had before she had left.

And she'd never mention it to the Doctor, but a woman had also appeared to her. She was older, about the same age as her mum. It was much too reminiscent of Mickey and that parallel world, and Donna had demanded to know who the woman was. Of course she never answered, only said that she'd have to help the Doctor to his death.

 _"I can't." Donna gasped. "He's my best friend."_

 _"The Doctor needs your strength, your courage. Take your grandfather's gun and bring it to him. He'll know what to do with it."_

 _"He abhors weapons. He'll never take it." The woman only smiled at her sadly, before disappearing._

"I knew I'd find you here." Donna spun around and smiled, temporarily forgetting about the strange woman. The Doctor stood leaning up against the TARDIS a few feet away from her. Donna ran up and hugged him. She noticed he still felt a bit tense, but more sure of himself than before. The Doctor grabbed the sides of her shoulders and made him look her in the eye.

"Donna, everything I did, I'm sorry-"

"There's no need for that."

"Yes there is. Donna, you're my best friend, and I need you there whatever happens. I promise never to frighten you again." She smiled at him in acceptance, before suddenly slapping him on his shoulder.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Four bloody months? You could have taken four years and come back a week later!" The Doctor rubbed his arm, a sheepish look on his face. "Thankfully for you, I've done a bit of research while you were out 'finding yourself'."

"That's what I came to talk to you about, if you had seen anything weird these past few months." He then proceeded to tell her everything that had happened to him, about the Master and the prophecy of his death.

"Come inside, I'll show you what I found." They went in through the front door, the Doctor being sure to steer clear of Sylvia (their last meeting hadn't gone so well when he nearly killed her dad). Donna handed him a book sitting on the counter.

"I was in the store the other day, when this brunette came up to me, handed me this book and told me to give it to the Doctor, said he would understand." The Doctor took the book from her and flipped it over to the back cover where a dark skinned man stared back at him. The look in his eyes unnerved the Doctor a bit. "Joshua Naismith," Donna commented, tapping her finger on his picture. "I looked him up on the 'net and everything about him sets off alarms in my head." The Doctor continued to stare at the picture, wondering who the strange woman was who had given Donna the book. A face popped into his head but just as soon as it did it was gone.

"Naismith. He must be something of importance." He tossed the book on the counter. "Come on, let's go!"

As soon as the Doctor was gone Donna pulled a bottom drawer open, where she had stashed her grandfather's pistol. She took it out and stored it in her knapsack.

* * *

"Naismith!" The Doctor shouted, running around the console. "If I can track him down- Ah, yes!" He threw a lever and the TARDIS shuddered as it landed.

The TARDIS appeared in what appeared to be an old stable. The Doctor knew the Master was very close, he could sense him nearby. He knew what would happen next. If his old enemy didn't back down one of them would have to die, and he didn't want Donna getting caught in the crossfire.

"You should stay here." He suddenly regretted going back for his ginger companion.

"Not bloody likely!" Donna shouted.

"Okay, okay." He knew it'd be useless to fight. He moved the TARDIS out of sync, away from the sight of the Master.

* * *

"It does what?" The Doctor replied, his hearts clenching in terror at the answer. The female Vinvocci replied.

"It transmits the medical template across the entire population!" The Doctor stood there, the truth of the Master's plan dawning on him. Suddenly he took off, his face etched in worry.

"Come on Donna! We have to stop him!" Donna ran to catch up with him.

* * *

The Doctor and Donna burst through the doors. The Doctor caught sight of the Master in a straight jacket. But that did nothing to ease his fears.

"Close the gate up right now!" He shouted.

"At arms!" Naismith shouted. His men turned their weapons towards the pair. Donna stood her ground, having full faith in the Doctor. She gasped, recognizing the face of the Master.

"The man from my dreams." She whispered, in shock. If the Doctor's old enemy had been inside her head for months, what did it mean?

"Don't let him" He motioned towards the Master. "near that device!"

"Oh like that was ever gonna happen!" He said sarcastically. The Doctor shielded Donna with his body as the Master threw off the straight-jacket with ease. To the Doctor's horror the Master jumped into the gate, yelling.

"Homeless was I?" He said in a condescending voice. "Destitute and dying? Well look at me now!"

"Deactivate it all of you! Turn the whole thing off!" He ran over to Naismith but saw they weren't listening. Everyone was grabbing their heads and saying they could see him, in their heads.

"Get out of there!" The Doctor rushed towards the Master but fell to the floor as the Master released a bolt of energy beside him. Donna stood there staring at the others in confusion and fear until she remembered her family. She dialed them on her cell as fast as she could.

"Gramps, are you okay, what about mum?"

"I can see him." Wilf said. "A man, he's laughing!"

"What about you Donna?" The Doctor turned to her. "Can you see him?" His hearts grew cold with fear at what was happening.

"Yes...I..." She screamed as suddenly a pounding flared in her head, the laughter of the Master. The same dream she had been having the last four months came back in force. The Doctor's face grew in horror. He had to save her! He dragged her over into the containment unit, put her in and turned it on. Immediately Donna couldn't see him anymore.

"They're not gonna think like me, they're gonna BECOME me!" Donna gasped at the Master's revelation. Everyone in the room was affected, everyone except the Doctor and Donna, the latter safe inside the containment unit. Suddenly the Master's ray shot all over the world, changing every human being into the Master.

"What have you done, what did you do to my family?" Donna shouted at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you talking to me?" The original Master said. Then the man who used to be Naismith spoke up. "Or to me?" As Abigail, Naismith's daughter. "Or to me?" As Danes. "Or to me?" The three guards removed their helmets. "Or to us?" The American lady on the television spoke to them _._

"Breaking news. I'm everyone. And everyone in the world is me!" Donna lost all hope as the former president boasted of his accomplishment. No humans left, except herself.

"The Human race was always your favorite, Doctor." The Master stepped out of the gate. "But now, there is no human race. There is only...the Master Race!" Donna could only place her hands against the glass and stare at the Doctor, whose eyes were intense with fear and horror. The Master's horrible laughter echoed across the entire earth.

...And yet, something even bigger was still coming!

 _And so it came to pass on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his role in greater events. For this was far more than humanity's end! This was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever!_ _This was the day... the Time Lords returned._ _For Gallifrey!_ _For the end of Time itself!_

* * *

 **Yeah that scene with Donna and Wilf...in my rewrite fic that was Rose and Jack. Rose had also become scared of what the Doctor had become and they had taken a break from each other, until the Master brought them back together. Yeah, not my best work, but yet, not my worst. Haha :P**


	8. 7 - The Master Race, The Doctor's Reward

**Shame this isn't getting as many reviews as I'd hoped. You think after 51 stories...oh well. Thanks to you who have reviewed so far, I love you dearly (blows kiss) :)**

 **I swear, after the chapter after this one we'll be done with episode rewrites and the real plot will start :P**

* * *

 _"The Human race was always your favorite, Doctor." The Master stepped out of the gate. "But now, there is no human race. There is only...the Master Race!" Donna could only place her hands against the glass and stare at the Doctor, whose eyes were intense with fear and horror. The Master's horrible laughter echoed across the entire earth._

 **Chapter 7: The Master Race, the Doctor's Reward and Crash Landing in 1996 (The Specials PART 3 of 3)**

Very soon after it was all over, the Doctor was strapped to an elevated chair with numerous bands around his body, arms and mouth. Donna sat in a chair tied with rope.

The Master strode over to her. His face sparkled with curiosity, something that shook Donna to the bone.

"Another pretty little companion. You've gone through them recently, haven't you Doctor? First Rose, then Martha, and now this one. Is she going to leave you just like they did?" That hit a little too close to home. After all, she had just come back after leaving him, a mistake she regretted dearly.

"Go to hell." She spat in his eye as he leaned close to her.

"Oooh feisty." He grinned maliciously, standing up and wiping the moisture out of his eye. "I appreciate that in my prisoners."

* * *

"Have you have nothing to say to that?" The Master walked over to the Doctor in confidence and tore the band off his mouth.

"You let him go!" Donna shouted at him, struggling against her bonds, nearly making her chair fall over in the process.

"Your girlfriend's kicking up a fuss Doctor!"

"Seriously, does everything think we're together?" Donna muttered.

"Hush now. Listen to your Master." Donna made a loud noise of disgust. The Master turned and slapped her."I said 'HUSH'!" Donna kept silent but glared at him as her face grew red. Not much could raise her hopes now.

 _"_ Tell me, where's your TARDIS?"

"You could be so wonderful." The Doctor stated sadly, trying to get him off the subject of his ship.

"Where is it?" The Master insisted.

"You're a genius." The Doctor continued. "You're stone cold brilliant, you are, I swear, you really are." At this the Master gave a conceited toss of his head, agreeing. _Typical Time Lord_. Donna thought. "But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour." The Master was silent, as if contemplating the very idea. Donna herself couldn't imagine it but... "Because you don't need to own the universe, just see it. Have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space." He paused, letting the words sink in. "That's ownership enough."

The Doctor noticed the Master's eyes starting to brim, as if the idea pleased him to tears. As if he wanted to become something more than what he had destined himself for his whole life.

"Would it stop then? The noise in my head?" For once he sounded the closest thing either of them ever heard to being sane.

"I can help." The Doctor offered with sincerity. The Master shook his head.

"I don't know what I'd be without that noise." _Sane? Good? Normal?  
_  
"I wonder what I'd be without you." That brought back memories to both of them: _UNIT, Logopolis, Castrovalva, New Years Eve 1999, the Valiant... The Doctor and the Master._ What would the Doctor be without his Master, what would the rose be without its thorn, the grape without its seed? _Theta without his Koshkei?_ Neither of them knew.

The Master turned his head as the thoughts seemed to calm him. He sniffed, not willing to let any tears fall.

"Yeah." The Master agreed, no hint of sarcasm in his voice. He seemed grateful for all those times the Doctor was always there, even if they were worst enemies.

But then the drumbeat took back over and the Master was lost.

* * *

The Master was ecstatic with his revelation of the true source of the drumbeats; that the source could be found with the drumbeats amplified by six million.

"Look Doctor, that's what your prophecy was!" He raised his arms into the air in typical prideful fashion becoming of the Master. "ME!" Suddenly he lashed out and struck the Doctor, hard. Donna bristled in anger, feeling his pain. "Where's the TARDIS?" the Master growled dangerously.

"Just stop. Just think." He couldn't let the Master get a hold of the TARDIS again, the last time had been devastating.

"Kill her." He pointed towards Donna. The Master was tired of playing games. The Doctor gasped. _No!_ Until he noticed the soldier's height. Donna straightened in fear, yet courage shown clear in her eyes. "I need that technology Doctor." The soldier cocked his gun. "Tell me where it is or your girlfriend is dead!"

"No Doctor don't listen to 'im!"

"I'LL KILL HER RIGHT NOW!" Donna tried to object but the Doctor cut her off.

"Actually the most impressive thing about you is that after all this time is that you're still bone-dead stupid!" Donna shot a surprised glance his way. The Master rolled his head in shocked surprise as well, as if not hearing him right.

"Take aim." The man pointed his gun closer to Donna's head.

"You've got 6 billion pairs of eyes, and you still can't see the obvious, can you?"

"Like what?" he growled again. Donna's heart leapt in hope.

"That guard is one inch too tall." he whispered. The Master spun around to see for himself but the guard knocked him unconscious. It was the Vinvoccis!

* * *

Donna gladly shook the ropes off and thanked Addams for freeing them. She only shrugged and ran out the door. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to remove the Doctor's straps and bonds, so they were forced to wheel him out of the room and down the stairs.

"Worst. Rescue. EVER!" The Doctor shouted as his chair painfully jostled his body in uncomfortable ways, particularly his back. Donna followed close behind.

Soon they were to the basement, but surrounded by the Masters.

"Gotcha." He whispered.

"You think so?" Addams said and slammed on her watch.

"No no no don't!" The Doctor cried, but to no avail as the three aliens and one human disappeared into thin air.

Once they reappeared on the deck of a ship, the Doctor struggled with his bonds angrily until Addams started to remove them. Donna noticed the world below them and walked over to get a better view. The Doctor didn't seem to notice, he was too busy yelling at Addams and Rossiter for not releasing him sooner.

As soon as the Doctor was free he leapt up and destroyed the main console using his sonic screwdriver. "Where's your main control deck?" He shouted.

"But we're safe!" Addams insisted. "We're 200,000 miles above the earth." She threw him an exasperated look.

"And he's got every single weapon on earth ready to fire!" He shot her a look to match. She tried to come up with something but eventually gave in.

"Good point." They took off, the Doctor yelling.

"Come on Donna!"

* * *

Pretty soon the whole ship was completely dead due to the Doctor's actions, much to the Vinvoccis' displeasure. Donna looked around as the lights dimmed.

"Shh..." The Doctor whispered.

They were trapped.

* * *

"I know you though, you've got a plan, haven't you?" But the Doctor just stared blankly at Donna. "How we gonna get home Doctor?" She asked him.

But he merely stared at her and studied each and every trace, every line on her face, the curve of her chin, her hopeful grey eyes. Because he knew it was very likely he would never see them again after this day.

* * *

With nothing to do, the day slowly turned to night, but unnoticable from those in space.

"Doctor!" Donna suddenly shouted, staring out the window. The Doctor leapt up from what he was doing and strode over to the window. A meteor-like substance streaked through the sky. "What is it?"

"I don't know." He frowned as it headed towards Earth.

* * *

Donna had given up trying to find something to do. She sat in front of one of the windows and stared down at her home planet, lost in thought. All her family...lost. Puppets of the Master. She hated him with her guts, if she could get down there she'd rip him a new one for this hell he unleashed on the world.

She shook her head as if trying to wake herself up. She had to be there for the Doctor during his time of greatest need.

As if on cue the Doctor came and sat next to her. She shivered involuntarily.

"You alright?" He asked her.

"A little cold, but I should ask you that. What made you come back for me anyway?"

"I need you there, whatever happens, I need you by my side to make me strong." Donna tried not to frown, remembering what that woman had said to her.

 _"The Doctor needs your strength, your courage."_

"How we ever gonna get out of this one?" The Doctor sighed. Donna finally let herself lean up against the Doctor. He grabbed her shoulder, hugging her to himself. He rested his head on top of hers.

"I don't know."

"My whole family...are they dead?"

"I...I just don't know."

"What do we do?" She pulled away from him to look at him directly. Donna's eyes searched his face for an answer he couldn't give. This felt exactly like the time when the Earth had been stolen, and the Doctor gave her that look that showed her he was all out of ideas, nothing to do, nowhere to go.

"There's nothing we can do at the moment. But for now I'll work on those heating controls."

* * *

Ten minutes later the Doctor sat in the middle of the room, fumbling with wires, trying to fix the heating on the ship. Donna still sat by the window, lost in memories of home.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly.

"Not your fault." She replied quietly.

"But it is isn't it?"

"Doctor, I..." She stood up and walked over until she was in front of him. She didn't know how she was going to say it. Instead she reached into her knapsack and pulled out the pistol. The Doctor looked up at her and furrowed his brow.

"Where did you get that?"

"It's Gramps. He fought in the war, though he's proud of the fact that he never took a life. I think you should take it." She held it out to him.

"No." He said immediately, refusing to reach for the weapon.

"Doctor, he's going to kill you!"

"I know."

"Don't let him. Kill him first." She held the weapon closer to him. He pushed it away.

"That would make me worse than him Donna."

"Please." She started crying. She knew it was imperative that he take the weapon. "I can't...I can't stand to see you die." He looked at the gun for the moment, contemplating. Finally he shook his head.

"No."

They were interrupted by the Master's voice coming through the intercom.

* * *

 _"A star fell from the sky. Don't you want to know where from? Because now it makes sense Doctor. The whole of my life, my destiny. The star was a diamond. And the diamond is a_ _ **white point star."**_

Donna's head snapped back to see the Doctor's face. He threw her a distressing look, what the Master had said obviously shook him to the core.

 _"And I have worked all night to sanctify that gift. And now the star is mine. I can increase the signal and use it as a lifeline. Do you get it now? Do you see? Keep watching Doctor. This should be_ _ **spectacular!**_ _Over and out."_

"Doctor, what does that mean?" Her heart began pumping in fear.

"The white point star is only found on one planet... _Gallifrey!_ Which means, it's the Time Lords! ...The Time Lords are returning!" Donna gasped. She would've thought that would be a good thing but by the horrified look on Doctor's face she had every reason to doubt it. With a frown on his face, he reached out and took the gun out of Donna's hands.

Without a word he rushed out the room, Donna at his heels.

* * *

The Doctor bounced around the controls, explaining about the Time Lords and the Time War. Donna listened, her questions about his people finally being answered. She knew a lot about what had happened, that he had destroyed his home planet to stop the Daleks, but she had never heard this part about his people before. How they became so power-hungry and dangerous that the Doctor had to destroy them too.

The Doctor repaired the ship and gave assignments to the 'crew'.

"Doctor, what do I do?" Donna cried, feeling like a fifth wheel-quite literally.

"I need you on the scanners while Rossiter and...well, whatever her name is, on the lasers."

"Hey!" Addams objected, but the Doctor ignored her.

"Donna, most importantly, stay safe."

* * *

"There's an old Earth saying, Captain. A phrase of great power and wisdom and consolation to the soul in times of need."

"What's that then?" Addams replied. The Doctor grabbed the controls and shouted.

"Allons-y!" He slammed the controls down hard and the ship plummeted towards Earth.

* * *

Soon it looked like they were going to be destroyed. The missiles continued to come and some of them got too close. Obviously Addams and Rossiter weren't fully equipped to handle a situation like this, with them not being soldiers. Suddenly a voice came over the intercom that Donna vaguely recognized.

 _"This is Lieutenant Cutter of UNIT, Doctor, do you read me?"_ The Doctor was too busy flying the ship but he motioned to Donna which button to hit to answer.

"This is Donna Noble, the Doctor is here."

 _"Do you require our assistance?"_

"Affirmative!" She shouted. Three small aircraft suddenly appeared to the right of their ship. A female officer's voice spoke out.

 _"Take care of the missiles at ten o'clock Lieutenant. Hart, get on the ship's port side, protect the ship at all costs! I've got the ones directly ahead."_

 _"Yes Captain Oswald!"_

* * *

Donna gasped as one of the aircraft was suddenly hit and fell towards the ocean below. The Doctor gritted his teeth, trying to steer clear of the explosion.

 _"Captain!"_ Private Hart shouted over the intercom. _"Captain Oswald, do you read?"_ No answer. That missile would have hit the ship directly, killing them all. She had just saved their lives.

"Get out of here, we've got this!" Donna heard Addams shout from her position at one of the turrets.

 _"Yes ma'am."_ The two remaining craft sped off and headed back to UNIT headquarters.

* * *

Soon they finally reached the Naismith mansion. They were coming in fast and Donna looked at him fear.

"Doctor you said you were going to die. Does that mean all of us, is this it?" But the Doctor stayed silent to her question. His eyes remained hard as steel. At the last possible moment he veered up, just barely missing the mansion. The ship stopped directly above the building.

He grabbed Wilf's gun and took one last look at Donna as a door slid open in the floor below.

"No!" She cried as she saw what he was doing. But it was too late.

The Doctor plummeted towards Earth with only a pistol for protection.

"Doctor!" Donna screamed at the spot where the Doctor had jumped. She suddenly turned to Addams who appeared to be flying the ship away. "Take us down!"

"No way I'm going back there."

"Take us down now!" Donna snarled. "I've never left him to die and I'm not going to start now!" Addams stepped back in surprise and decided not to argue.

* * *

Donna burst into the shaking room. She spotted the Doctor and the Master, as well as a bunch of regal looking beings. Time Lords. Just as Donna heard a man shouting, she felt someone beside her. A young woman with a sad look on her face stared at her. Donna recognized her from Davros' ship, the woman who destroyed the Daleks then got electrocuted.

In fact, now that she thought about it, it was the same woman who had handed her the book on Naismith in that book store a month ago, whose voice sounded like that Captain Oswald of UNIT who had just died to save them. What the hell was going on?

"I'm sorry, but you need to save that man in there." Donna looked to her left and saw a desperate man banging on the glass walls of the containment unit. "This needs to happen." With that she faded out of existence.

Rattled, Donna ran over to the containment unit and slammed the button on the other side, letting the unknown stranger out, but trapping herself in.

"Donna, don't!" The Doctor begged but was unheard.

* * *

The Doctor's eyes widened in surprise as the time lady beside Rassilon lowered her hands. _No, it can't be..._

She gazed at him sadly, tears in her eyes.

* * *

 _"It's over. It's over. It's over."_

A million thoughts ran through the Doctor's head. Gallifrey was gone, the Master had sacrificed himself, the Time Lords were thrown back into whence they had come, _and he was still alive!_

"I'm alive!" He whispered in wonder. "I'm still alive." He laughed shakily, his hearts raising in joy, until he heard the knocking.

 _Knock knock knock knock._

* * *

"I said something's been drawing us together all these years. This is it. My death." He wiped a hand over his face. He refused to look beside him, not wanting to see _her_ staring at him with those sad brown eyes. The last time he had seen her it had been an invention of the Ood, but he knew this time that wasn't it.

He really was going crazy.

"Oh. Lived too long."

* * *

Donna was staring at him with tears in her eyes. She knew what this meant, though she didn't really understand all the technical bits.

"Just leave me. Don't make me be the one to kill you." She begged.

"I can't leave you in there. I won't let you die."

"You've got to! I'm nobody important, and you're the best man in the universe." The Doctor came up and put his hands on the glass over hers.

"Don't you see? If I left you here I wouldn't be the best man, I'd be the worst. You're my best friend Donna, _please_ let me do this for you."

"No." She still wouldn't let him.

"Donna, you're the most important woman in all of creation." She was. She had been there to support him, to give him courage when he had none. She had been just an ordinary temp who chose to do something extraordinary with her life. She had helped save Ood kind, had pleaded for Pompeii, had stood next to him against Davros and his Dalek army. She had faced down the Racnoss, Sontarans, Cybermen and finally the Master and hadn't wavered once. Agatha Christie, Caecilius and his family, the Doctor and entire worlds were alive and thriving because of her.

Without her beside him he definitely would have died a long time ago. That made her the more important than anyone else, including himself.

"It's my honor."

"No, no, Doctor, NO!" But he ignored her as he opened the door and shut himself in. The noise that came out of Donna's mouth was like one of a wounded animal. She pounded on the glass and screamed.

"NO!" She sobbed. "Doctor!" He yelled in agony as radiation flooded his body. Slowly he slumped to the ground, his hand up against the glass. She collapsed into a sitting position and sobbed hysterically. Through her teary eyes Donna saw the Doctor finally fall completely on the ground. The power to the entire system shut down. "No..." She whispered. _He can't be dead! Not after all we've been through, not after all the good he's done, not when-_

But then his hand moved.

But Donna in her heart knew this would only slow down the inevitable. She had never seen the effects of regeneration but he had told her about it.

She knew this next part would be the hardest.

"Where are we going?" She asked him as they walked out of the empty mansion. He looked at her with sad eyes.

"To get my reward."

* * *

After seeing Martha and her husband Tom, Sarah Jane and Luke, Mickey's grave, Jack Harkness, and the author Verity Newman, Donna found herself and the Doctor standing in front of a large cement memorial. Donna wrapped her arm around the Doctor's shoulder, guessing why his sorrow had suddenly increased tenfold.

For the Doctor knew it was time to say goodbye to the one he loved the most.

Carved in the cement slab in were hundreds of names. Donna didn't speak, only watched as the Doctor stepped forward and ran two fingers over the name of the woman he'd lost, back in the battle of Canary Wharf.

 _Rose Tyler_

His eyes wandered to the two names above hers.

 _Mickey Smith_

 _Jackie Tyler  
_

"Doctor, can't we just go see her, in the past?" He shook his head, trying to stop the onslaught of tears.

"No, it'd be too hard." He traced over her name one last time. "I'm sorry Rose." He whispered. Suddenly he cried out as a wave of pain struck him in the chest. Donna ran up and helped him hobble back to the TARDIS.

"Doctor, I'm so sorry. I did this to you."

"N-no Donna. It was never your fault. If you want to blame someone, blame the Master. But never yourself. I...I would save you at the cost of my own life, every time." Donna shook her head, still feeling guilty. She would probably feel guilty about this for the rest of her life. Killing your best friend wasn't something you could easily bounce back from.

The Doctor sadly smiled as they entered the TARDIS, both comforted at the fact that Donna would never leave him, but saddened because he would lose this current regeneration, the one he had accomplished so much with. He really _really_ liked this body, for more than one reason. He loved the energy and excitement, of feeling more human than he'd had in a while. He loved saying _"Allons-y"_ and he loved being able to run without getting winded.

Plus, Rose was the first face this face saw, and it saddened him greatly to know that wouldn't be the same for his next form. A long time ago he had held onto that foolish hope, back before she had broken his hearts.

 _"How long you gonna stay with me?"_

 _"Forever."_

A bolt of pain shot through his body, interrupting his thoughts. He collapsed into Donna's arms.

"You...you have to go, whether to your room or somewhere else on the TARDIS." He yelled in pain. "I can't control this regeneration, I don't know what will happen, but the TARDIS, she'll...she'll keep you safe." Donna stayed silent. She stared into this face, the one with so many memories. The Racnoss, Adipose, Pompeii, the Ood Sphere, the Crucible, Mars...

"Good luck spaceman." She whispered. He tried to reply but couldn't. Without another word she took off deeper into the TARDIS.

* * *

The Doctor stumbled to his feet and quickly took off his jacket and set the controls to the space just above Earth, unwittingly into a few years in the past.

1996 to be exact.

* * *

 _"I don't want to go!"_

* * *

Donna had been trying not to cry while sitting on the bed in her room. _Strong heart,_ she kept telling herself. She needed to be strong for the Doctor. Oh she wished Rose or someone who had seen him regenerate before were here. She was frankly terrified, having never been through this before. Would he still want her to travel with him? Would he even be remotely the same Doctor she had come to know and care for? Would he still be funny, kind, sexy...

Hold on. Not sexy. He is...was definitely not sexy. _Never_ ever.

Suddenly the room pitched to the right and Donna went flying. She screamed in terror as items and wardrobe pieces flew around the room. She clung to a coral on the right side of her bedroom and waited until the shaking stopped. She was distressed to see her room at an angle. The TARDIS must have fallen over. She remembered the Doctor mentioning some kind of stabilizer that kept the inside of the ship upright no matter what had happened, but maybe it had gone offline.

It took her a while but she was able to climb on top of her things to reach her door. She pushed it open and climbed out.

"Doctor?" She called out. No answer. She grumbled to herself. It was going to be a long way up.

When she finally did make it to the console room, she saw the front door now on the ceiling swung open. She coughed as a cloud of smoke entered her lungs. She had to get out of here so she could breathe. She spied a rope hanging outside, maybe the Doctor had remembered she was here. But, why didn't he come and help her? Maybe his brain was scrambled or something like that.

Grabbing hold of the rope, she was forced to use all her strength to get outside. When she did she collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

"I'm gonna kill 'im. I'm gonna kill 'im again." Realising what she meant with those words, she immediately regretting saying it, and instead distracted herself to look at her surroundings.

 _"Where are we?"_ The TARDIS was in front of a large two story house, and it was nighttime. She could hear sounds and see a light coming from the upstairs bedroom, so she decided to take a look, it might be the Doctor making friends with the locals. Or enemies, knowing him.

As she walked, a low-pitched bell noise came from the TARDIS. She remembered it as being the cloister bell, the last time she had heard it was after Mickey had whispered those two words in her dying ear.

 _"Rose Tyler."_

 _"It's the end of the universe!"_

"Doctor?" She called out, walking through the front door, which was already open. "Doctor!" She shouted again. Soon a man she didn't recognize rushed down the stairs. He immediately stopped upon seeing her, as if he had forgotten she existed. Perhaps he had.

"Donna." He whispered, making her pause.

"Doctor, is it you?" He nodded, coming up to her slowly. "It really is you." She whispered in wonder, taking a full look at her friend. His brown hair was longer now, if that was even possible. His eyes were bright green instead of brown, and his chin, oh his chin! She began to laugh.

"What, what is it?"

"Your chin! Blimey you could stab someone with that!" She held her sides and giggled, also as a form of release of all the terror she had just endured over the past few days. It felt good to not be worried and afraid for once. The Doctor rubbed his chin ruefully.

However any further commentation was interrupted as a young ginger girl came running down the stairs.

"Doctor, who's this?" She asked in a thick Scottish accent.

"This, Amelia Pond," he went and grabbed her shoulders to pull her closer. "is my best friend Donna Noble. She travels with me on my adventures!"

"Pleased to meet you." The two ladies shook hands. Donna glanced at the Doctor, hoping he hadn't invited her to travel with them. The TARDIS was dangerous enough without having to watch out for children. He didn't seem to notice. He started in surprise as he heard his ship outside.

"The TARDIS!" He shouted as the Cloister Bell went off again, running out the front door.

"What about the TARDIS? I'm still mad at you for leaving me in there by the way!" But her cries went to no avail as the three of them ran outside.

"The engines are phazing, it's gonna burn!"

* * *

"Five minutes, I'll be right back."

"Doctor, what about me?" The Doctor looked at Donna, and she could see a crazed look in his eyes that frankly worried her. Well, that feeling of relief hadn't lasted long.

"Take care of Amelia. Five minutes, I'll be back. I promise." He looked deep into Donna's eyes and she nodded.

"Go, Spaceman. Take care of your one true love." With one final grin, the Doctor leapt inside the TARDIS and the ship faded away. Donna turned to the little redhead after the TARDIS had left.

"He'll be back. I know it."

* * *

 _ **Oops...**_

 _ **(Is it bad that I'm addicted to killing Clara off? Haha :P)**_


	9. 8 - New Face, New Rules

**Recently I realised that some people thought I was leading them on by marking this as Ten/Rose when that isn't exactly true for the entire story. I apologize and I've changed the settings on this to match.**

 **REALLY long chapter today! Haha enjoy (heart)**

 **P.S. HAPPY 33RD BIRTHDAY BILLIE PIPER! (09/22/15)**

* * *

 _"Take care of Amelia. Five minutes, I'll be back. I promise." He looked deep into Donna's eyes and she nodded._

 _"Go, Spaceman. Take care of your one true love." With one final grin, the Doctor leapt inside the TARDIS and the ship faded away. Donna turned to the little redhead after the TARDIS had left._

 _"He'll be back. I know it."_

 **Chapter 8: New Face, New Rules  
**  
The Doctor sighed in relief as he began working on his ship. It would take him at least an hour, but he promised Amelia and Donna he'd be back in five minutes. This regeneration wasn't so bad, his hair wasn't as sexy as the last one but it would do. He was less aware of certain things now, and his mind raced like a rodent on steroids, but that was probably the after-effects of the regeneration. And he and Donna had escaped the Master alive, so that was good. His ship would probably be fine too. All in all a good day.

Now to deal with his ship and then Prisoner Zero, whatever the hell that thing was.

But when he exited the TARDIS in a cloud of smoke, he realised it was day time. Strange, he must have landed a few hours off. That's okay, Donna and Amelia had only to wait one night.

Then suddenly the pieces clicked, what he had missed in Amelia's house last night. She had to get out of there!

* * *

The Doctor woke up to a pair of the longest legs he had ever seen. Blimey, they seemed to go on forever! A police woman, but what was she doing in Amelia's house?

* * *

"Do I have a face no one listens to, again?!"

* * *

"I'm twelve years late, not five minutes!"

"You're Amelia!"

"I'm Amelia, and you're late!"

"But what happened to Donna, the woman who was with me, y'know, with hair like yours-"

"She went home."

"She...how could she go home, she's in the wrong time!"

"I don't know, said something about visiting a friend." The Doctor shook his head. He'd find Donna after all this Prisoner Zero stuff was over.

* * *

"Amy, believe me for twenty minutes."

* * *

"It's him! It's him though, the Raggedy Doctor!" The strange looking man named Rory with the big nose said. "We dressed up as them, the Raggedy Doctor and Donna...what was it?"

"Donna Noble." The Doctor replied, slightly miffed.

* * *

"Silence Doctor, silence will fall!"

* * *

"Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically, run!"

* * *

Oh yes, his TARDIS was a beauty. Lovely, just lovely.

"Oh you sexy thing you." He knew he was leaving Amelia...Amy behind. Well, she'd just have to wait a little longer. Right now he needed to pick up an old friend.

* * *

He landed the TARDIS in the same year, 2010, in front of the Noble residence. He wasn't sure what 'friend' she had visited, but this was the first place he was going to look. Even if he didn't know how she got here.

He knocked on the door and stepped back, a wide smile on his face. His smile immediately fell when the door opened and Donna Noble stood there, looking angry as hell as soon as she recognized him.

"Wait!" He cried as she went to slam the door. "I'm sorry!" The door slowly opened back up again.

"Months I waited for you Doctor. You didn't come."

"I'm sorry, the TARDIS, she wasn't working properly, I got the time a bit off."

"A bit?" She cried.

"I know, more than a bit. But...how did you get here?"

"Jack."

"Jack?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, remember? I went to see him. He didn't recognize me of course..."

 _"This is Donna Noble, I'm looking for Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood." She let go of the intercom switch and waited for a response._

 _"This is Torchwood, there is no record of a Captain Jack Harkness."_

 _"Don't give me that, I know he works here. I'm a friend of the Doctor's." That name seemed to open up opportunities. The line was silent for a moment._

 _"He expressed interest to be made aware of anything relating to the Doctor. Captain Jack Harkness is a field agent at the moment. We'll call you when he's back."_

 _"Thank you."_ _  
_  
 _"_ It was another six months I waited. I was forced to watch my family from a distance while they were younger, myself as a child. I could never speak to them, what would I say after all? I had to get a job so I could afford a place to live and eat. And finally Jack arrived at my flat..."

 _"I am Captain Jack Harkness, investigating the whereabouts of the Doctor."_

 _"Don't give me that introduction stuff, we met, remember?"_

 _"Miss, I would remember a face like yours."_

 _"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jack stepped back in fear as Donna raised a hand to slap him._

 _"Woah, certainly not what you think it meant." With that Donna realised she had forgotten she was in the past. This Jack hadn't met her yet._

 _"We meet in the future. I'm a companion of the Doctor's, but I got trapped here, and I was hoping you'd have a way to get me home."_

 _"Well, I would but my vortex manipulator only has two more jumps left in it, a Jalax attempted to repair it but, apparently the Doctor is the only one who can fix it fully."_

 _"I need those jumps, I need to get home! I can't stay here any longer." She began to cry, and Jack frowned._

 _"Don't cry Miss..."_

 _"Noble, Donna Noble. And don't call me miss!" She yelled at him through her tears. He held his hands up in defense._

 _"Alright, alright, I'll take you home, just stop crying!"_

 _"Oh thank you, thank you!" She embraced Jack and grinned. Tears could get you anywhere.  
_  
"So then he took me home to my right time in 2010. Gramps is pretty angry with you by the way, best not to let him see you."

"Donna, I'm so sorry for everything that happened, but why did you leave Amelia, she obviously needed you!" The girl had grown up to be an...ugh _kissogram_ , of all things.

"Her aunt wouldn't have understood why a stranger hung around her niece. I rented out a flat in Leadworth, ugh what a boring town, and watched her, to see if you would come back for her. For the best though, you really shouldn't have kids on the TARDIS anyway."

"What, why not?" Donna looked at him like he was deluded, but chose not to answer the question. Was he more oblivious this time around? "Come with me Donna, just like old times."

"No." The Doctor hadn't been expecting that.

"No?"

"I said no. You've changed Doctor. You care more about yourself than those around you. You haven't made it clear but I can tell by the way you act. Those around you are going to get hurt, physically and emotionally. I can't imagine what you've even done to Amelia."

"It's Amy now. And it was an accident."

"I know. And I'm sorry. And...and," She choked up. "Doctor, I'm the one that killed you. No matter how you deny it it's true. You have a different face because of me."

"But I'm fine! Everything turned out fine!"

"How many more times can you regenerate?" His face fell at that.

"This is my last...next time I'll..." She gasped and started crying.

"I...I can't look at you without seeing you die for me. It kills me inside." She wiped her tears away, gaining a little more control. "Plus I've made a life for myself now, things I need to take care of." She hugged him one last time. "Goodbye Doctor." As the Doctor embraced her, he held her tightly, feeling himself getting choked up. His best friend, who said she would travel with him forever, had broke her promise, just like everyone else recently...

"I can't just leave you." He said as they let go. "How will I know you'll be okay?"

"I...I met someone. His name is Shawn Temple. We got married last spring."

"Last spring? I thought this was 2010!"

"It's 2012 blockhead. Another two years off." Donna chuckled softly. "As I said, you shouldn't have children on board the TARDIS." She laid a hand on her stomach and the Doctor realised what she meant.

"You're...you're..."

"Yep. It's a boy. Thinking about the name Connor." Now that he noticed, she did look a bit rounder than usual. "Now get going Spaceman, your new companion is waiting." With tears in his eyes he stepped back.

"She is, isn't she? Well, goodbye Donna Noble. I'll miss you."

"You're not coming back, are you?" He shook his head.

"It's too hard. New face, new rules. I need to move on." She nodded.

"Goodbye Spaceman."

"Goodbye Donna Noble." With that he left. Donna sighed and tried not to cry as she heard the time ship fade away with that same blessed engine noise. For the rest of her life she would never hear it again.

* * *

"Come with me."

"Where?"

"Wherever you like."

* * *

"Amy Pond, the girl who waited. You've waited long enough."

"And Donna, what happened to her?"

"She...she went home. This is a new life for me, she didn't want it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was her choice."

 _They always leave me, in the end..._

* * *

"So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will...where do you want to start?"

"Why me?"

"I need someone, it's clear that when I'm lonely, I do stupid stuff."

"You don't want to be lonely. That's it. Just that?"

"Just that. I promise." _Ah, this one was prone to lying as well._

* * *

"Amy Pond, there's something you better understand about me because it's important and one day your life may depend on it. I am definitely a mad man in a box!" Finally, he knew who he was now. _The madman. That's who I am this time 'round.  
_  
 _"No second chances. I'm that sort of a man."  
_

* * *

"Amazing though, the star whale? All that pain and misery...and loneliness. And it just made it kind."

"But you couldn't have known how it would react."

"I've seen it before. Very old and very kind and the very very last. Sound a bit familiar?"

* * *

As time went on, the Doctor found it easier and easier to forget about all the things he once cared about. His last form had been particularly nostalgic and unwilling to let things go, but in this regeneration it was easier to leave behind everything he used to love.

Instead of lying on the floor, moping for things long gone, he was able to make new friends and memories, and pretend like nothing bad ever happened in his life. He gradually even began to forget Rose, Donna, Martha and anyone else he would have done anything not to forget before.

He was glad it was so easy this time around, it finally started to feel like he was healing.

* * *

He met River Song for the second time after she had died at the library, and she had promised a good life for them again. He crashed a bachelor's party, him and Amy and Rory found vampires in Venice, held an inter-species conference that didn't go too well, lost Rory, met Vincent Van Gogh, found Rory again, then saved the universe from being wiped from existence.

 _"I remember!"_ Amy certainly was important, to have that kind of power to bring him back into existence. He was worried for a moment there, wondering if she really could. But soon he was dancing at their wedding, and everything felt so right.

It was like he had become a kid again, and it felt good, _so_ good. The universe was his to explore, and nothing could ever ruin that.

Until eventually everything he had left behind came crashing down on him in full force.

* * *

 _"Better a broken heart than no heart at all."  
"Oh, try it. You try it."_

* * *

"So, how was the honeymoon?"

"Great, except for the whole crash-landing bit."

"But I saved you from that, didn't I?"

"Barely." Rory didn't look too happy, but it was probably because his honeymoon with Amy had been cut short rather than almost dying. He had just put on his centurion outfit, and had been about to fulfill all of Amy's dreams. It was a daunting task but he was up to the challenge. Especially since she seemed to be so turned on by the whole _'I'll save your life like a dashing knight'_ bit. In fact-

"Well go on then." The Doctor continued. "Go to your room and finish doing your whole "wife and husband-y" thing."

"Husband-y?" Amy seemed totally amused by it all, as always.

"I said, run along Ponds!" He shooed them up the stairs of the TARDIS.

"Actually its' Willi-"

"Goodnight Doctor." Rory was cut off by Amy dragging him up towards their bedroom.

He wasn't bothered one bit.

* * *

Later, the Doctor dropped them off back home for a few months of alone time.

Just before those months were up and he was thinking about coming back for them, he was walking down the streets of London, looking at all the sights and sounds in fascination. He loved humans, their quirks and natural tendencies, their-

"Excuse me, Doctor?" He spun around as someone called his name. A brunette woman wearing a white flowery dress came running up to him, a blue envelope in her hands. "This is for you." She handed him the envelope.

"What is it?" He asked in slight amusement and delight as he took it. He hoped it was an invitation to a party. He loved parties. Especially with-

"I think you should go get Amy, Rory and River Song and meet a man named Canton Everett Delaware the III in 1989." The Doctor's face immediately darkened.

"How do you know all that?" He didn't like people knowing things that he didn't, especially about his friends. But the woman just smiled.

"You'll find out soon enough." The Doctor went to ask her again but she disappeared into a crowd of people and he couldn't find her again. Sighing in resignation, he looked inside the envelope. It held a letter with coordinates for 1989, the same destination the woman had said, as well as the exact place he would find the 29 year-old Canton in the White House (the White House, of all things) where it would, quote _'help him discover quite a few things'._

He went back to his TARDIS to get Amy and Rory, knowing he'd find River on the way.

* * *

After that had happened, some very weird happenings involving America, President Nixon, and the decimation of the Silence species filled up his next year. He grew increasingly worried about Amy and a possible pregnancy, but he chose not to tell her. For her own safety of course.

Then Amy and Rory were traveling with him again.

* * *

"Come along Ponds!" The Doctor shouted the next morning after Nixon and the Silence. "Got somewhere crazy planned for today."

"Somewhere crazy! Sounds like a plan!" Amy yelled as the two came down the stairs. "Where are we going exactly?" The Doctor grinned at her, a wild look in his eye.

"No idea. I've hit the randomizer!" The three of them held on to the console as the time ship rocked back and forth. Rory collapsed to the floor as soon as the shaking stopped and muttered in resignation.

"How about someplace quiet, like a beach resort or something?"

"What was that dear?"

"Oh, nothing."

As the they left the TARDIS a little green light began to blink on the console, unnoticed. After a minute or two it switched off.

It wasn't time yet.

* * *

The three of them stepped out into what looked like the bottom deck of a ship.

"Shouldn't we be sailing?" Rory asked, noticing the ship wasn't moving.

"Yeah. It should. Good on you for noticing plastic man." Rory rolled his eyes. Unlike his wife the Doctor's approval wasn't #1 on his list of important things. He pulled the lid off a nearby barrel. He winced immediately and slammed the lid shut. The smell of rotten vegetables permeated his airspace and he coughed.

"Hey, I think I found an opening!" Amy said, stepping up to reach to the ceiling. The two men climbed up with her and the Doctor attempted to push it open, but it lifted up on its own. The three of them looked into the faces of a group of angry pirates.

"Yo ho ho!" The Doctor said the first thing that came to mind. "Or does no one say that anymore?"

* * *

 _"Alive isn't sad."  
"It's sad when it's over."  
_  
 _"However hard, however far, we will find you."  
_  
 _"It's me. I'm Melody. I'm your daughter."  
_  
The Doctor was so caught up in finding Amy and Rory's baby that when he finally found her, he was shocked to find it was not as he had expected.

When the Doctor had taken the Ponds to 1941 they found a very young River Song there, who informed them that her name was Melody Pond had changed her name to River Song as an alias so her pursuers wouldn't find her. She said she also had been watching Amy and Rory (her parents), for the last year, until she felt it was safe to make herself known. The Doctor felt extremely guilty that the Ponds hadn't been able to raise their daughter themselves, but the damage was already done and he couldn't go back and change it. Like so many other mistakes he had made.

When he asked River about her past, what she told him surprised him.

"The people who kidnapped me, their plan was to raise me to be a killer, to kill you specifically."

"You've never tried to kill me."

"I know. A woman saved me when I was four years old, she rescued me from that and took me off to raise me. She was there when I first regenerated. Called myself Mels for a while then."

"Who was she? And why didn't she return you to Amy and Rory?"

"She said it was too dangerous, that the Silence would take me again if I ever went back. That they would finish the job they started. She said her name was Oswald. Oswald wouldn't tell me anything else about her but I owe her my life. You owe her yours too."

"What happened to her?" Melody looked downcast.

"When I was fourteen, she died to save me from a couple people in eye patches who were part of the Silence. They tried to kidnap me again. I got away but my ship was critically damaged and I crash landed on Earth. After I regenerated into this form you see now, I tried to track you down using the vortex manipulator Oswald gave me. Took me years but I finally found you during my parents wedding." The Doctor nodded. Amy had mentioned seeing River then, outside one of the windows. Only neither of them had known that she had been much younger than the River they knew at the time. Something she said confused him though.

"Part of the Silence? I thought the Silence was a race." She shook her head.

"The Silence is an organization created to stop you."

"Stop me from doing what?"

"I don't know. But something big." The Doctor wrung his hands in agitation. Things could have gone very, very wrong, and it was all thanks to this Oswald woman who saved River.

"Oswald." He muttered in thought. That name kept popping up in his life. Yes, he was starting to remember. The woman who handed him the blue envelope that led him to discover the Silence in the first place, the Captain Oswald of UNIT who died to stop the Master's missiles, the Oswald who destroyed Davros and the Daleks. Hundreds of times in his life she had appeared, and he was starting to recall them all.

She was yet another mystery that needed to be solved.

* * *

Every time he looked at River, he could feel the time lines changing, and it scared the hell out of him, because he didn't understand why. One minute he saw her like his mother, protective yet willing to discipline him (which didn't amuse him at all) and the next his...dare he say _wife,_ though he had never married her, nor did he even dream to.

He sensed changes in their time lines, constantly fluctuating as new events came to pass. If the time lords were still here they could make sense of what was happening and possibly help him, but he was all on his own now, and he didn't have a single clue.

So they flirted, joked around, traveled together, until he would take her back to the Lunar Galactic University where she was currently studying archaeology and move on until the next time. Their timelines were still moving backwards from each other and the Doctor dreaded the day he would have to say goodbye to her. He had grown to care for her and hated to see her hurt.

However he refused to let himself love her. He had done that once a long time ago and had gotten punished severely for it.

But sometimes River would look at him with a knowing smile on her face, saying someday he would find his hope again, which only served to confuse him, but he trusted her because she knew his future better than anyone else.

* * *

Soon he felt this impending doom like he was supposed to die, but nothing of the sort ever happened and once again he felt his time lines changing drastically. What was happening to him? Events were twisting and changing around him, and whatever was at the center of causing it, he had no idea, and he couldn't do a thing to change it.

He wasn't sure he wanted to.

* * *

One day nearly a year later the trio was dragged to a strange hotel with a minotaur-like creature that fed off of people's faith.

That was when he realised he had also gone too far with Amy, that he needed to take her home before something happened to her and her husband. It killed him inside to do it but he knew it would kill him even more if he was forced to bury the two of them and inform Brian of what had happened, what _he_ had done to them.

After a Christmas in which a very lovely woman in the 1940's had shown him the importance of family, of friendship, he fetched River Song from the college and returned her to her parents house where they shared a lovely Christmas dinner (after Amy had shot him with a water pistol for not taking the time to visit them in months).

 _"Yes you said no family. But there must be people who love you. Friends."  
_  
 _"No one should be alone on Christmas."  
_  
"There's a place set for you."

"But you didn't know I was coming."

"Oh we always do. It's Christmas you moron!"

 _"Crying when you're happy."_

* * *

It wasn't until he reentered the TARDIS with Amy and Rory after a particular adventure involving a Dalek asylum and a marriage neatly put back together that everything started to escalate.

The screams of Daleks shouting _"Doctor Who!?"_ overpowered the whole area as the three of them entered the TARDIS.

"Doctor Who?" The Doctor repeated, a silly grin on his face. That brilliant Oswin Oswald, erasing him from every Dalek database. Of course, they would learn of him again eventually, he had no doubt, but still, it amused him.

He was starting to remember Oswald even more so now, making him wonder if he was closer to solving the mystery of her soon. All those times she had saved him, and soon he would be able to repay her...

As he entered the TARDIS into the vortex, he took a sidelong glance at Amy and Rory, who were conversing quietly, most likely talking about what had happened. He had nearly wrecked their marriage, but he was glad to see things back on track. He wished he could do something for Amy, after all it had been entirely his fault that they couldn't have any more children and hadn't been able to raise the only one they had.

The Doctor grinned as the couple kissed again for the third time. All in a day's work.

* * *

"If my landing's correct, as it usually is-" The Doctor ignored Amy's snort of amusement. "we should be on the planet Vester, a thriving and advanced community."

"Well, I wouldn't call this thriving." The Doctor stepped out behind Amy and Rory. He was shocked by what lay out in front of them.

"It's destroyed, all of it." The buildings were collapsed, stone and rubble was everywhere. A few calculations on his sonic told him it was like this over the whole world. "It's not supposed to be like this. In this year Vester is one of the most productive planets this side of the galaxy."

"Who could destroy a whole planet?" Amy asked, horrified. Meanwhile the Doctor was scanning the air with the screwdriver. "The Daleks?" Amy guessed, knowing those foul metal tins were more than capable of this sort of thing.

"No, this isn't the Daleks." The Doctor replied, walking forward a few steps. "Where are the bodies? There should be hundreds of them, if they've been killed."

"If?" Rory repeated.

"Yes, I'm picking up a sort of resonation in the air, it's..." he dashed forward and Amy and Rory chased after him. He stopped and knelt down in front of a pile of dust. They looked around and noticed there were hundreds of the same dust piles as far as they could see. "I wanted to know where the bodies were." The Doctor said quietly. Amy was appalled.

"Their souls have been drained." The Doctor said, standing up and pocketing his screwdriver.

"Who would do this sort of thing?"

"It's not a typical soul-eater. They only need a few souls a month to survive."

"But maybe one went on a rampage?" Rory offered. "Or there's more than one of them."

"No," The Doctor replied, a grim look on his face. "This is something much darker. And much more dangerous. But his sonic had picked up something else, something he had seen before, but couldn't remember. There was a low level of infrasound resonating in the air, too soft for Amy and Rory to be affected but the Doctor and his sonic sensed it. These people had been scared out of their wits just before their death. The Doctor knew he had seen this before, but where? He racked his brain but couldn't remember. Something to do with a gerbil? Damnit, why couldn't he remember? He swept his sonic around the air one last time to see if he missed something. It lit up, and immediately he took off in a sprint towards the TARDIS.

Amy chased right after him but Rory sighed. All this mad dashing about was wearing him out. And he tried not to look at the analogy, how all his life he would be chasing after Amy who would chase after the Doctor.

"Whatever kind of transportation they used, it left a trail right for us to follow. I can track the residual residue to their next destination!" The Doctor exclaimed as they all reentered the TARDIS. As per usual, Rory was the last in so he shut the doors. The Doctor inserted his sonic into a plug on the console and the TARDIS suddenly took off in flight.

When the shaking stopped Amy and the Doctor headed outside while Rory attempted to peel himself up off the floor. He came out of the TARDIS to see his two traveling companions standing on a different planet with shocked looks on their faces.

"It's the same thing." The Doctor muttered. Hundreds of more souls had been taken.

"Who could do this?" Amy asked for the third time, but still the Doctor couldn't give her an answer. Instead he stomped back into the TARDIS, a look of fury and determination written all over his features.

When the Doctor reached the console, he pulled up the scanner and searched for all planets with the same residue readings as the two planets they had found in this sector.

"27." he whispered in horror. Amy looked at the scanner as well. "Twenty-seven planets all with their souls drained." Billions upon billions of people, dead. Hold on, twenty-seven planets, hadn't that been how many planets Davros had stolen? Was someone sending him a message?

No, that was entirely preposterous. Purely coincidental.

"Whoever did this, we're going to stop them right?" Amy asked.

"You're damn right we are." The Doctor replied. "I'm going to hunt down whatever did this and stop them."

The Doctor didn't say a word the whole time he piloted the TARDIS and glanced at the scanner every few seconds. His silence was beginning to worry Amy. She knew him well enough to know that she should leave him alone for a bit. Well, she should, but she wasn't going to.

"Doctor, what are you doing now?" She watched him in fascination as he twisted knobs, rang bells and other things as he fiddled with the TARDIS.

"I'm trying to find the planet of origin this creature came from, but it would help if I had some peace and quiet so I could concentrate!" He slammed his hand on the console, making Amy and Rory jump. What had gotten him so uptight all of a sudden?

"Amy, come on," Rory tried to guide her away but she shrugged him off.

"Doctor, I know you're stressed about this, but if you just calm down and concentrate, I know you'll figure it out. Is there anything I can do?" The Doctor ignored her for a few seconds, but then he glanced at his fire-haired companion, smiling gratefully.

"No, but thanks Pond." With that over with, the Doctor pulled the computer over and began punching keys. An image with a swirling language popped up on the screen. Amy remembered these symbols as being from the Doctor's home planet. "Ah, yes!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"What, did you find something?"

"No, not a thing."

"Then why did you say _'Ah, yes!_ '?"

"I did, when did I say that?"

"Just now, you did."

"Really? Well, I meant to say _'Oh, no!'._ "

"And why would you say that?"

"Because I haven't found anything yet, keep up Pond!" With that he pulled a lever and exited them out of the vortex. He knew if he didn't tell Amy what he was up to, she would ask, being the nosy Scot she was. So he decided to cut out the middle man, er-woman. "I need you two to take a look around. I've landed us on one of the planets that was decimated. You humans are good at finding clues." Amy saluted and dragged Rory out of the TARDIS.

"Why do I have to go?" He complained, frowning at the new surroundings. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils along with another scent, one he didn't want to know what had caused it. The sky was an ominous grey, like a storm was coming. Or had just passed.

"Because you're my husband."

"You say it like I'm your pet." She only smiled at him, confirming his theory.

"Come on, let's see if we can find any 'clues', as the Doctor put it." Rory didn't want to stray too far from the TARDIS but Amy walked ahead like she owned the place.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Rory asked as he leafed through a couple papers in a rubbish bin.

"I don't know, anything of relevance." He heard it first, a low moaning sound. He followed it and found a humanoid alien lying in an alley, clutching his side where blood had gathered.

"Amy!" Rory shouted to his wife. She came running and the two of them knelt at the male's side. He had spots up and down the sides of his face and the sides of his arms and hands. "I'm a nurse, I can help." The man nodded and Rory pulled his shirt up to look at the wound. It looked like he had been stabbed with some sort of caustic knife that had caused the wound to blister and burn around the area. He winced and looked at Amy, shaking his head. Even with his limited knowledge on alien technology, he knew this man had only a few minutes, maybe less.

"Listen mate." Amy said, leaning over the dying man. " We need to know what happened here." The man had a hard time speaking, but eventually he was able to make out

"A...a man and a woman. B-but they weren't human. They were monsters!" His eyes widened in horror, remembering. "The man opened up this portal and the woman took control of it. That's where all the souls went into. T-their faces were the most frightening, the faces of pure and utter evil. The man had black eyes and so did the woman, but the woman's had a more feral look about them, like she was some sort of wild animal."

"Did they say anything?" The man seemed to gain more strength and spilled his words in a rush.

"After they had taken all the souls of the planet, the man turned to the woman and praised her for a _'stellar job'_ , as he put it. She smiled and then they kissed, foul creatures. An invisible spaceship then appeared out of thin air and they climbed into it."

"Anything else you can remember, maybe about where they were heading?" The man nodded, before bursting into a fit of coughs. Rory knew he only had seconds left.

"T-the woman asked if they could go home yet to feast on the souls, as she was _'oh so hungry_ '." He shuddered in revulsion. "And the man replied. _'Yes dear, we'll unload all the souls on Alaxia. Hopefully this will be enough to get you and your friends all the way through the void._ "

"Alaxia." Rory repeated. It would have sounded like a beautiful name for a planet, had it not supposed housed two of the most evil beings he had ever heard of. And he didn't like the word _'friends'_ as the creature had put it. "We need to tell the Doctor." The man's eyes widened at the name.

"Message! They had a message for the Doctor if he came!" Rory and Amy frowned. "They said ' _Come looking for us, time lord. We've got a surprise for you."_

"Rory, I don't like this. Those two knew he was coming here. We need to tell him it's a trap." Amy went to get up but she noticed her husband wasn't moving.

"Hold on," He said, realising something. "If they took all the souls, how are you still alive?"

"Because..." he replied slowly. "I have no soul." With that his eyes snapped to black and he lunged for Rory.

Amy screamed before it turned into a shout of shock, seeing Rory's sword run through the body of the...thing. It collapsed into the same pile of dust that were scattered all over. Rory grunted as he pulled his sword up and sheathed it. "W-when did you bring your sword?" Amy asked, still shaken by the ordeal. Rory grinned at her.

"Centurion's trade secret."

Amy was suddenly very turned on.

* * *

"Alaxia huh? Good job Ponds." The Doctor entered the planet into the TARDIS database. Rory didn't even bother to correct him as he rebuttoned his shirt, knowing it'd be useless. Amy adjusted her jeans and came up to the Doctor, who was entirely oblivious of his companions' disheveled appearances.

"Doctor, we can't go there, it's obviously a trap."

"What am I supposed to do then Pond?" He didn't look up at her from his work.

"Let's stop a minute, think up a plan." The Doctor turned to her at that.

"You got any bright ideas?"

"Well, no but-"

"Well then, let's find the planet first, then we'll come up with a plan." The Doctor frowned as the console beeped. "That's weird."

"What is?"

"Alaxia's not there. It used to be here," he motioned to the screen where empty space was pictured, "right in the Gamma Sector Quadrant, but it's not there now."

"Can't we just go back in time then?"

"If we did that, we couldn't stop who did all this, could we?" Amy thought about that and had to agree.

"So, what do we do?" Rory asked.

"I...I don't know." Amy had never seen the Doctor admit defeat before. The Doctor moved around the console. "It must be hidden. Whoever hid it doesn't want to be found easily. Those two that man told you about must be playing some kind of game with me. I've dealt with lost planets before, and I know it'll take a while to find it, years even." He stopped, lost in thought. Suddenly he shouted. "Amy, that's it!" He cried, grabbing his female companion and planting a kiss on her forehead. She grinned, glad to see him happy.

"What did I say?"

"We're going back in time!" He began his ritual dance around the console.

"I thought you said we couldn't."

"We can't go back in time to Alaxia, yes, but we can go back to one of my past regenerations. If we give him the details, the TARDIS can get started on finding Alaxia. It should be done in our time very quickly."

"Regeneration?"

"Ah yes, I haven't told you about that yet. It's a thing the people on my planet can do. Whenever we're dying we change every cell in our body. Our face, personality, likes, dislikes, everything changes. A new man is born, uninjured."

"Kinda like what River was talking about?" He nodded.

"That's it exactly." Amy caught on quick.

"So we go back in time to a younger version of yourself who looks nothing like you but is still you?" He nodded, grinning. He loved it when companions were quick on their feet. "You had just regenerated then, first time I met you. You were testing your taste buds, you didn't know what you liked yet." The Doctor nodded.

"That was a nasty one. Nearly exploded my TARDIS completely."

"What did you look like before?"

"Tall and thin, _extremely_ thin, brown haired, not as good looking as I am now but acceptable. Obsessed with trainers and tan coats. A bit too emotional for my liking." Amy tried to picture it in her mind, wishing she could meet _that_ Doctor.

"Ten years oughta do it." The Doctor commented as he smashed buttons and threw levers. He didn't want to go too far back in time and run into a version of himself he'd been trying to forget for a long time. He also didn't want to go back before the time war and have Amy or Rory let slip that he was the last of the time lords. "The TARDIS is a bright girl, ten years should be plenty of time to find where Alaxia has gone. Now hold on tight," He told Amy and Rory. "Time traveling is tricky enough as it is, much less traveling through my personal time stream. It might get a bit bumpy."

"More so than usual?" Rory asked, but found the Doctor to be right. The three of them held on for dear life as the console sparked and hissed dangerously, the room shaking like an earthquake. It seemed like it would go on forever but eventually it began to die down.

"We've landed." The Doctor said, helping Amy get up off the ground. Rory rubbed his head where a new lump was forming. "You two stay here." The time lord said as he walked to the door.

"No bloody way!" Amy cried, following him. "I'm not missing a chance to meet one of your past selves!" The Doctor looked at her ruefully, seeing Donna in her eyes. He seemed to be lost in nostalgia for a moment. Finally he chuckled.

"Alright then." They exited the TARDIS and found themselves in a grassy field. "Earth, USA, the state of Oregon, about 7 o'clock in the evening." Amy and Rory were stunned by the magnificent sunset in front of them.

"There." Rory said, pointing north where another TARDIS sat. The trio walked forward.

"Let me do the talking." The Doctor said to them quietly. As they neared they saw a figure staring out into the sunset and leaning up against the time ship that was slightly different than the one they had arrived in.

"You shouldn't be here." The figure said, not bothering to look at them.

"It's important." The Eleventh Doctor replied, stopping. The Ninth Doctor turned around to look at his older self.

"Is it now?"

* * *

 **Did you guess right? Haha ;) I wanted to do a Classic Doctor (I was debating Six or Seven) but I feel the character of the Ninth Doctor himself got a bad rap for the 50th (I don't blame you Eccles), so this is me trying to make it up :P  
**

 **Just to be clear, the Doctor never died and he never invited Amy, Rory and River to see his death, because River was never raised to kill him. He just went back in time to President Nixon's era and used humans to wipe out the Silent race. However the Silence organization is continuing their work to kill him, so Trenzalore is still in the game plan. Hope that makes sense, even I got confused O.o  
**


	10. 9 - Alaxia is Found

_"You shouldn't be here." The figure said, not bothering to look at them._

 _"It's important." The Eleventh Doctor replied, stopping. The Ninth Doctor turned around to look at his older self._

 _"Is it now?"_

 **Chapter Nine – Alaxia is Found**

"Yes, it is." The older Doctor bristled. He generally hated meeting his past selves, especially when he knew they were in a bad mood in the first place. And he definitely knew his Ninth self was in a rotten mood at this point of his life.

"Tell me." The Eleventh Doctor shook his head.

"You know I can't. All you need to know is I need you to find a planet."

"Find a planet?" The young Doctor sneered. "Have I forgotten how to do that in my old age?" The older Doctor sighed in exasperation.

"It's missing. It's not where it's supposed to be." The Ninth Doctor's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Someone took it?"

"That's what I figure."

"Alright," The Northern Doctor held out his sonic screwdriver. Amy raised an eyebrow. The other Doctor's was much smaller and had a blue light at the end instead of green. "Give me what you can." Amy's Doctor likewise pulled out his own screwdriver.

"The planet's name is Alaxia." He nodded in recognition.

"I know Alaxia, mostly deserted, except for some mining expeditions in the 88th Century. In the Gamma Sector, right?"

"Not anymore. Enter the details into your TARDIS, she should find it by my time." The Doctor in leather nodded. He'd used himself for things like this before; having a very long time stream came in handy sometimes. He frowned. Hadn't he done something like that very recently to find a different planet, one that meant so much to him, that took all his lives at once...?

He snapped back into focus as his older self held out his sonic towards his. The two sonics glowed as the exchange of information was passed. He raised an eyebrow as soon as it was over and he pocketed the device.

"Compensat-"

"Don't start." Eleven interrupted him before he could finish his jibe. "I already made fun of...of this form actually, when I was in the form after you but before me." Funny, he had forgotten about that until now. He wondered when he'd have a chance to meet his Tenth self. _Sometime soon_ he figured, since he would still look like this when it did happen. He wrinkled his nose, trying desperately to remember if his Tenth form had seen Amy with his older self or not. Those memories were already getting hazy.

Neither of them knew they were both trying to recall the same memory from the regenerations directly before them.

"Confusing." The Ninth Doctor muttered, giving up. "I look forward to it."

"Wibbily wobbily, timey wimey." The Eleventh Doctor replied with a grin. The Ninth Doctor didn't look amused.

"Is that how I talk in the future?" He raised an eyebrow. "Hell, not to mention my dress sense going out the window even." Eleven just rolled his eyes. It was the same old thing every time he met himself. "How far are you in my future anyway?"

"Not long. Nearly a dozen years."

"And I go through two bodies? Must be getting reckless in my old age." Eleven smiled at him sadly.

"Where are you in your timeline?" He asked. The younger Doctor scowled at him suddenly, his mood darkening like an eclipse on a bright day. Well, a sort of dreary day. His Ninth self hadn't been in the best of spirits in the first place.

"You know where I am, else you wouldn't have found me here." He spat.

"I want to hear you say it." The Ninth turned away at that.

"I don't want to talk about it." The Doctor in the bow tie stared at him for a second with that same small smile on his face. He stepped towards him, lowering his voice so Amy and Rory had to strain to hear what he was saying.

"Go back for her mate. Tell her it's a time machine." He gave his past self a bigger smile. "She won't choose to stay with that idiot Mickey a second time." The Doctor turned to himself, ice blue eyes meeting green that were just as icy.

"Really?" Hope filled his features.

"I promise." The Doctor with the short cropped hair suddenly frowned and lowered his eyebrows, turning away and crossing his arms. He looked like a petulant child.

"I don't make a habit of asking twice." He muttered bitterly. The Eleventh Doctor looked away in exasperation.

"Oh stop being so bloody prideful!" He shouted, causing Nine to look back at him in surprise. "You know just as much as I that she's worth the exception." The Ninth Doctor narrowed his eyes at him, trying to see if he was telling the truth. He then turned his head to the side, taking a sidelong glance at Amy and Rory.

"These are your current companions? But that means..."

"She won't be with you long. But they'll be the best two years of your life." He hadn't talked about her or had even thought of her for years, but the truth spilled across his lips like a day hadn't passed since she was with him.

"T-two...?" He straightened up in shock. The young time lord had only known her for a day but he was horrified to hear that that was all he was going to get with her. In his extremely long life two years was like the blink of an eye, the length of one breath.

The length it took a petal from a dying rose to fall to the ground...

"You have to make yourself forget about this." The Doctor in the tweed coat and bow tie reminded him. A bow tie, of all things! The northern Doctor leaned back up against the TARDIS, looking out into the Oregon landscape again.

"Yeah yeah chin boy, I know. This isn't my first time 'round on the rodeo." Eleven stuck out his chest in irritation.

"Chin boy? If I'm chin boy then that makes you-"

"Doctor," Amy chose to step forward at that. "Are we done here?"

"Yes," he looked at his younger self one last time.

"Alaxia." Nine double-checked.

"Alaxia." Eleven repeated. "And thanks."

"No problem pretty boy."

"Pretty boy! Listen' 'ere big ears, oi!" Amy grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him back.

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to get you riled up, eyebrows."

"EYEBROWS?! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MY EYEBROWS?!" Rory gave an apologetic wave at the strange Doctor as his wife pulled their Doctor back to their TARDIS, him yelling in protest the whole way.

The Ninth Doctor rolled his eyes. When had he let himself get so whipped? As the future TARDIS disappeared the Doctor entered his own. He came up the walk and stood in front of the console. Staring at his sonic ruefully, he let himself remember what his older self had said about Rose. Apparently he wouldn't get long but his older self was sure it'd be worth it.

He had only met her a few days ago and she had already made an impression. Rose Tyler was courageous, willing to let her beliefs be challenged, and didn't try to be something she wasn't. Modesty, open-mindedness and sincerity were highly important to this version of him. Although, judging by the length of that redhead's skirt, he apparently wouldn't appreciate modesty for long.

And if his older self was telling the truth, if he went back for Rose now she would leave her stupid boyfriend behind and choose to travel with him! All he had to tell her was that the TARDIS could travel in time. Sounded easy enough.

He grinned, inserting his sonic into a slot in the console. The TARDIS' lights lit up, signalling upload data was complete. At the same time the Doctor placed his fingers on his temple, locking away the memories of the whole encounter to remember at a later time.

As soon as he was done the feeling of elation didn't go away.

It was time to get himself a companion.

 _"Did I tell you, it also travels in time?"_

* * *

Meanwhile the TARDIS churned in the background, beginning her ten year-long search for Alaxia.

It only took her eight.

* * *

"Only you can get into a fight with yourself Doctor," Amy said as she finally released her hold on his collar. The Doctor stared at Amy as he straightened his shirt, still trying to remember if his Tenth self saw her with him. He felt a great rush of anxiety as he still couldn't remember. He realised he was getting fiercely afraid of losing her, and he knew it would break him when he finally did. He knew he was getting too close, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He loved his Ponds far too much for his own good.

But he couldn't let her know that. She didn't deserve to be bothered with his fears. They had more important things to do at the moment. He ignored her and walked up to the console, putting them into the vortex.

"How can the other TARDIS find Alaxia if it isn't missing back then?" Amy asked, coming up alongside him. The Doctor turned and smiled at her.

"The TARDIS isn't tethered to a certain time. She exists in all of time. Finding one planet is nothing." The two of them gazed into each other's eyes. Amy could tell he was thinking of something, something that was worrying him. Last time he'd had that look she had dissolved into a puddle of goo and woken up in a space station about to give birth.

"Doctor-"

"Who were you talking about?" Rory interrupted, unable to hold his question back any longer. "That woman you were encouraging yourself to go back for?" Rory wasn't a normally curious person, but the way he had talked about this girl like she was something worth saving made him wonder who had made such an impact on his life.

"No one of consequence." He said, turning away.

"Yeah Rory, he doesn't want to talk about it-" That upset Rory. His wife was more forceful and intrusive than he'd ever been, and the one time he spoke up and she was going to reprimand him for it?

"You obviously care for her." He continued.

"Look," The Doctor said, turning back to him. "I haven't thought of her in so long, and I'd like to keep it that way. Yes, she once was the most important woman in my life, but not anymore. That was so long ago."

"Less than a dozen years." Rory reminded him. "What was her name?" Rory was surprised to see the Doctor's eyes suddenly filled with sorrow.

"I...I haven't spoken her name out loud since...I can't even remember when. Please don't make me now." Rory didn't have a reply to that. Whatever had happened, it must have hurt the Doctor deeply if he didn't even want to say her name. So he dropped the subject.

Suddenly the Doctor shouted in surprise.

"What, what is it?" His companions quoted in unison.

"The TARDIS, she's found her! Alaxia." He started laughing. "Oh my beautiful ship. She found it two years ago, my wonderful time ship." Amy could have sworn she saw the lights of the rotor brighten just a bit. Pride, maybe?

"Two years ago." Amy repeated, grinning.

"Yep, around the time we stopped the Silence in America." He hit a few keys on the keyboard. "Took her all this time, when it was hiding in a corner of space, just a few seconds out of sync with time. But not only was it hidden in time, it was also moved, it used to be the Gamma Sector Quadrant, but now it's in the Luon Galaxy. Who has the power to move planets?" The familiarity of it being a few seconds out of sync with time made him stop. Hadn't Davros done the same thing to hide the missing planets? Why didn't he think of finding it that way sooner?

It wouldn't have mattered, even if he'd knew, he'd have to find the place where the planet was hidden, which would have been nigh impossible if the TARDIS hadn't been scanning for it for eight years.

Hopefully the soul eaters hadn't taken too many souls. And hopefully he could restore those souls, if they weren't already destroyed.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The Doctor looked at Amy.

"Really? We've been on the go for hours, met my past self and finally found the planet of origin of these dangerous soul eaters and you're ready for another adventure? Wouldn't you rather I dropped you off at home and took care of this myself?" With that Amy strode up to him, and he took a step back in fear. She grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and stuck her face in his, their noses barely touching.

"Don't you dare." She whispered. "We were with you when this started, and we're going to see it finished." So he didn't dare oppose her. Of course, Rory would have much rather gone for the Doctor's alternative, but he didn't want to risk Amy's wrath as well, so he stayed silent.

"Well, alright then!" The Doctor replied, a grin covering his face. "Let's see what we find!" He brought up the scanners. He immediately frowned. "There's a high concentration of energy on the south side of the planet. My best bet is our friends are hiding there." That was enough for Rory.

"We aren't just going to go strutting in there are we? Clearly these people possess a dark magic that is more powerful than just the three of us." The Doctor chuckled condescendingly.

"Magic? You think it's magic? There's no such thing as magic. These are soul eaters, nothing more. Very strong, perhaps the strongest I've ever come across but that's it."

"How can you possibly know that? You'd have to know everything in the universe before you could make the assumption that there's no such thing."

"I do. And I know there's no such thing as magic. Besides, there's four of us if we count the TARDIS. We'll be able to find our way in easily without them even knowing it."

"And then what?" He hated going in without having a plan.

"And then we stop them."

"How?"

"Oh...I'll come up with something." Rory ran a hand over his face in frustration, but the Doctor ignored him as he went to fly the TARDIS. "Hold on Ponds, this will be a bumpy one too!"

* * *

Bumpy put it mildly. It was one of the roughest ones to date that Amy could remember. She held on to the railing for dear life while Rory attempted to grip the Captain's chair. The Doctor kept his balance as he continued to guide her through the vortex and to the spot where she had found the missing planet, just four seconds ahead of time.

Enough for a lifetime.

* * *

When the trio stepped out of the TARDIS, it was dark, like an all-encompassing dark. Amy could barely even make out the outline of walls around them, it was so dark. However the light coming from inside the TARDIS helped a bit. The Doctor took a wary step forward.

"We're inside some sort of building." He said loudly, until he realised his voice echoed around the room. He lowered it considerably. "We should split up."

"No bloody way!" Rory objected, trying to keep his voice low too. "We have no idea what kind of traps are in here, monsters, magic, no!" The time lord threw up his hands in resignation.

"You still think there's magic here? And monsters now, are you out of your damn mind? These are aliens that need to be stopped, nothing more." The Doctor said, his face darkening.

"Oh, and the minotaur wasn't a monster? How do you define monster, only if it doesn't exist?" The two men got in each other's faces and Amy could sense a fight starting.

"Rory, we won't go far, let's just meet back here in twenty minutes," She patted his shoulder reassuringly but Rory took as patronizingly. "Try not to get lost or get yourself caught, alright?" Rory was shocked. He was sure his wife would be on his side. He shouldn't have been surprised. But knowing he was outnumbered, he grumbled.

"I'm still bringing a flashlight." He pulled one out of his mini backpack that he had grabbed earlier.

"You got any more in there?"

"Just one for you dear." He pulled one out and handed it to his wife, glaring at the Doctor. He only scowled back, still a little miffed. He didn't need a flashlight anyway, he had his sonic.

"Okay, Amy you take the corridor to the left, Rory the right. I'll go straight and see what I find. Remember, twenty minutes!" The two of them nodded and took off.

* * *

Amy shivered and pulled her jacket closer to herself. She had never really been afraid of the dark (that had been Rory's thing when they were younger), but this seemed to penetrate even into her soul.

Coming across a door, she pushed it open slowly, wincing when a loud squeaking noise from the door opening resounded around her. Her frown softened into a relieved look as she saw what was inside. It was a child sitting on the floor playing with a stuffed wolf. She looked like she was about five years old.

"Why hello there." Amy said, coming to sit next to the little girl. She had blonde curls that danced around her shoulders and neck. The girl didn't turn to look at her, which Amy would have thought odd, except she was filled with this strange sense of peace that overwhelmed her other senses. "What's your name?"

"I've been a very bad, bad girl." The child finally muttered, but she wasn't frowning, more like a sick grin as she continued to play with her wolf, poking around the eyes, which were yellow. As the little finger continued to run over the glass eye, her own eyes began to glow to the same color. Amy couldn't see this as the girl had her back turned to her. "I guess you can say I've been a _bad wolf_." At that moment the girl turned around.

Amy screamed in shock, before the floor disappeared from under her and she fell.

The girl flickered away from existence, like a hologram or a ghost.

* * *

The Doctor continued to walk forward, the light from his screwdriver being the only thing guiding him. He was still grumbling over Rory not giving him a flashlight.

" _Don't need a damn flashlight. Wouldn't have been a bad thing to offer me one though. Common courtesy I want, is that too much to ask?"._ He muttered, but what had bugged him most was Rory's unwillingness to never do anything fun!

He loved him dearly and he knew Amy loved him too but sometimes he just brought down their 'level of cool'. Amy understood him much better. She knew what he loved, what he hated.

Of course, he still hid many many things from her. Amy only knew about 10% of him and believed she knew 100. And that was by his own choosing. Some things were better left hidden in the past.

She never asked about Donna again after the first time and he was glad for that, that time in his life was just too painful to dwell on. Thinking about Rose again had been equally hard.

That was extremely odd for Rory to keep pushing him like that, especially about his past. Rory usually kept to himself most of the time.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he missed the door in front of him. He grabbed his nose as it throbbed painfully. The pain didn't help his mood, but he opened the door and stepped inside.

What he found was something he was not expecting. There were three people, people he didn't recognize, and they all looked sick in some way.

The first was a man groaning and retching into a bucket. The second was a comatose woman lying on the floor. The final a child, grabbing his head and crying. The Doctor went to move forward to scan them with his sonic, but nothing showed up on the sonic.

 _"Your device won't work here."_ A voice echoed around him.

"Who is this?" Suddenly he was aware that he had been caught in some sort of trap.

 _"One of the people before you is dying. Only you can help them."_

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't scan them!" He briefly wondered if these were fake, but truly if one of them was dying, he didn't have time to think like that. He looked down and saw a vial in his hand filled with a purple-sparkled liquid.

 _"Choose wisely. If you give that to anyone who's healthy, they will die."_ Now the Doctor knew it was a trap. He had fallen into some sick game. He winced at the unintentional pun. Nevertheless, he stepped forward, preparing to use his eyes to assess the situation. He stepped up to the first man, who was still leaning over his bucket.

"It could be a mild virus, but yet, he may have intestinal damage." He moved to the second comatose woman. He felt all over and found a broken bone in her rib cage. "May be merely a broken rib, but maybe she has a punctured lung as well. Also doesn't explain why she's unconscious." He moved to the child. He shied away from him and wouldn't let him look at his head. But from what he could see there was no blood. "Maybe just a knock on the head, but yet it could be a concussion." He collapsed back and debated what to do.

It was an understood rule to help those who were silent first as they were closer to death than those screaming, but yet his instincts told him to give the vial to the child. However he didn't want to take the chance and be the one to kill him, so he moved to the comatose woman and emptied the contents in her mouth. He watched in horror as she stopped breathing.

"No, no!" He went to start chest compressions before remembering the broken rib. He couldn't save her. He watched helplessly as the woman before him stopped breathing entirely.

 _"You chose poorly."_ The sinister voice above him spoke again. The Doctor stood up, angrily throwing away the empty vial. He didn't even notice as the three people faded away.

"Who was really dying?"

 _"They were all dying. You held a poison in your hands and ended her misery."_

"You lied to me! You said I could help them!"

 _"I never told a single lie. Reexamine my words."_ The Doctor thought about it. The voice was right, it was a twist on words that ended in death.

"What was the right choice then? WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?" He didn't like being played like this, not one bit.

 _"You should have taken the poison yourself and ended our misery."_ With that the floor underneath the Doctor disappeared.

* * *

Rory scowled as he walked forward. Always splitting up, always jumping headfirst into dangerous situations, it was a wonder any one of them hadn't been killed yet in this dangerous life.

He knew he couldn't talk to Amy about this. She'd never give up this life. He loved it too, he really did. Seeing different worlds and different times had been the most spectacular thing to happen to him. He just wished it wouldn't be so dangerous all the time. He wondered if he could convince Amy to leave before something horrible happened to them. Or even worse, Rory would be left on his own to bury his wife's body. The Doctor would be gone of course, after the damage was already done, leaving him to pick up the pieces of his shattered life. That thought sent shivers down his spine.

He stopped as he saw a door in front of him. As he went to reach for it however, his flashlight died and he was left in the dark.

"No, no no!" He smacked it against his hand but it was no use. The batteries were dead. He'd have to go back to the TARDIS and get some new ones. He pulled out his phone and used the light from that to head back where he came.

His footsteps quickened as he realised he hadn't checked the batteries in Amy's flashlight either. She might get lost in this infernal place without a light, especially if she had forgotten to charge her phone last night, as she often did.

He continued to run at a cautionary pace until he saw the TARDIS in front of him. He let out a sigh of relief as he placed his key into the lock and opened the door. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him, letting the bright lights fill his being. The impending darkness seemed to recede and he felt like a normal person again.

With that done, he took off up the stairs and towards his and Amy's room for the batteries he had placed in their bedside table.

 _"Always be prepared"_ , an adage both him and his father stuck to. And he was glad he was. He grabbed the batteries, changed out the ones in his flashlight (made sure they worked) and placed the extra ones in his pocket and headed back for the console room.

When he arrived he was surprised to see a basic map of the whole place on the console screen. That confused him, as the ship hadn't shown the Doctor any kind of map before they left. Maybe the TARDIS was just being kind to him, knowing how nervous he was after splitting up.

He stared at it for a minute or two, trying to memorize every detail. He noticed a gold light blinking in the upper left corner of the map. He wondered what was in that room the TARDIS was alerting him to. But he didn't have time to investigate, no matter how much the time ship wanted him to. He had to find his wife first, then stop these 'monsters' or whatever they were. The gold light seemed to blink faster and brighter as he thought this, but Rory was adamant in finding Amy first.

"Uh, thanks." He said as he stepped back, remembering the Doctor saying the TARDIS appreciated common courtesies. The console's rotor brightened in reply.

He hesitated as he reached the front door, letting the light of the console room fill him with peace once more, before stepping back out into the pressing darkness.

 _"Amy went...left that's it."_ He took off down the left corridor until he reached a door. Stepping cautiously inside, the only thing he saw was an open trapdoor. "Amy?" He called quietly, hoping against all odds that she hadn't fallen down there. "Amy?" he repeated, a bit louder as he leaned over the trapdoor and looked down. However the only thing that greeted him was darkness.

Where was she, what had happened to her?

* * *

"Oomph!" Amy cried out as she landed none too softly on her rear. The fall had made her dizzy and disoriented, but she could still make out the Doctor a few feet away from her by the light of his screwdriver.

"Nice of you to 'drop in'." He said, with a cheeky grin on his face.

"How long have you been waiting for me to fall so you could say that?" She sighed wearily.

"Oh, about twenty seconds."

"Is Rory here?" She was never much for chit chat, especially when she worried over her husband.

"No. Maybe he missed the trap." She shook her head, not believing him.

But yet, after a few minutes, it looked like the Doctor was right.

"But, how?" The Doctor looked at her with a knowing smile. "What?"

"He's smarter than you think he is."

"What? Are...are you saying I don't really know my own husband? That I don't trust him enough to get us out of this when you clearly can't!" Her voice grew louder and more offended with each word, so the Doctor raised his hands in defense, saying he wasn't implying anything of the sort. She sniffed in annoyance. "Is there anyway out?"

"None that I've found so far."

With that out of the way, all they could do was try and escape until whoever had trapped them here decided to show themselves.

* * *

Rory had run into a conundrum. He had no idea what to do. The Doctor and Amy were nowhere in sight, and it looked like it was up to him to save their sorry hides. Being the hero in the spotlight wasn't exactly his thing.

Sure, he liked to think he was the only thing protecting Amy from everything in the universe, but in reality, he liked being in the background better. A nurse who doesn't merely help the doctor (no pun intended, really), but runs everything behind the scenes that no one else thinks about, things that would grind to a halt if there were no nurse there. The Centurion bit for Amy was only a silly game. But now...

He continued to wander, trying to remember in his head the map the TARDIS had shown him. Was he supposed to go up...? Suddenly he felt a nudging in his head to go left, like something here was calling out to him. Not something evil, something good. Something very faint that filled him with hope.

His footsteps could barely be heard as he made his way down the dark corridor, until he finally reached a door on the end. He winced as the door made a loud creaking noise as he opened it.

What was in there shocked him beyond belief.

* * *

The Doctor and Amy had worn themselves out trying to find a way out, which was virtually impossible. There were no doors whatsoever, as well as no air vents or any sort of secondary passage. The room was virtually impenetrable. Finally the two of them sat in the middle of the floor and waited.

Hours seemed to pass until the wall behind them rose up and jerked them into awareness. The two time travelers scrambled to their feet and prepared to face whoever, or whatever had come. The Doctor gasped as a small figure stepped out of the darkness.

Who it was shocked him beyond belief.

"R-Rose?!"

 _"What have you done now?!"_

* * *

 **Nine/Eleven BFFs ;)**

 **I probably won't be able to post for a few days, not sure if I can get online while I'm traveling or not. I'll hopefully get chapter ten up by Monday :)**


	11. 10 - Trapped Between Dream and Nightmare

**I removed the rant on the last chapter even though most of you agree with me, because that's what I always do. In the future it won't always apply. I always feel a need to defend myself or even explain why I wrote it that way to my readers, especially those who don't like what I'm writing. I take all criticisms to heart and that's probably why I reacted so strongly. Most of the time I try to understand and even make appropriate changes to my fic if I agree with the reviewer when they explain their reasons in a way that makes sense. However I feel this story doesn't need changing in respect to it being in the Doctor's POV. What happened to Rose is supposed to be a shock to him, and the secrets she'll reveal will be devastating, which wouldn't have as much impact if I kept it in her POV. I love writing in Rose's view but I felt it wouldn't have worked for The Black Rose, especially since she'll have a major role in the last few chapters of the story. I apologized before for marking this as Ten/Rose because, silly me, that's how I started it out. However I also can't really label this as Eleven/Rose either, that's why I changed it to 'Doctor/Rose' in the summary. Because that's essentially what they are, being Nine, Ten, or even 10.5 :)**

 **Keep leaving your constructive criticisms, I appreciate them, it's just that constant comments on the direction that I decided to go long before I started writing this gets to me after a while. Also, reenable private messaging so I don't have to explain this all here.**

 **Sorry I couldn't update yesterday, (especially after that cliffhanger lol!) I'll try to get the next chapter up even sooner :)**

 **Warning: Multiple Character Deaths**

* * *

 _Rory's footsteps could barely be heard as he made his way down the dark corridor, until he finally reached a door on the end. He winced as the door made a loud creaking noise as he opened it._

 _What was in there shocked him beyond belief._

 _The Doctor and Amy scrambled to their feet and prepared to face whoever, or whatever had come. The Doctor gasped as a small figure stepped out of the darkness._

 _Who it was shocked him beyond belief._

 _"R-Rose?!"_

 **Chapter Ten – Trapped Between Dream and Nightmare**

"Hello?" Rory's eyebrows creased into a frown as he heard what heard like a breathing apparatus, which his years of being a nurse had taught him.

Stepping into the room he found a large machine that looked like glass cube atop a pedestal, in which sat a girl of about twenty years old, staring back at him with dull but surprised eyes.

"Hello." He repeated, coming up to the clear cube. The blonde didn't move but continued to stare at him, as if her eyes hadn't seen anything new in centuries. "What's your name?" She hesitated for a moment, her brows creased in concentration. Rory frowned. How long had she been in here to make her have to remember her name?

"Rose." She finally said, her voice weary and sounding much older than she looked. "My name is Rose." She nodded, deciding on the declaration.

"Rose," Rory began. "What are you doing here?" He looked down at the machine. "If you'll show me how this works, I'll get you out of-"

"No, you can't!" She cried suddenly, leaping forward. Rory stopped fiddling with the controls on the pedestal to look up at her. "What did you say your name was?"

"Rory. Rory Williams."

"Williams. Can't really remember my last name. It's been too long."

"Why can't I get you out of there, clearly you need medical attention." He knew (although not from experience) that individuals who had been kidnapped most likely had psychological damage, which in this case Rose couldn't even remember her last name, so it was apparent she needed help.

"Rory, look at me closely." He did as she was told and frowned. She appeared to be only half in focus, like an apparition. "I'm just a soul, a consciousness. If you let me out I'll dissipate and die."

"W-where's your body then?" He never imagine saying something like that, but his time with the Doctor had taught him to just roll with it.

"I made a stupid mistake, so many years ago, and let my soul be poured out into here while something else controls my own body."

"Something else?"

"Something dark and evil. Something uncontrollable."

"The soul eater." Rory muttered. She nodded, tears rolling down her eyes. "Well, don't worry, the Doctor will get us out of this, he's never-"

"The Doctor?" She gasped, leaning closer to the Rory. "The Doctor's here?"

"You know him?"

"I...I did, so long ago. I used to travel with him. He probably wouldn't recognize me now."

* * *

"Rose." The Doctor gasped, his hearts racing faster and faster until he was sure they would leap out of his throat. He had nearly burned her image away from his head in an attempt to forget her but now here she was standing in front of him, and not a day older than the last time he said goodbye to her, when she broke his hearts.

 _"That's a shame."_

"Rose, it can't be. It's impossible."

"Doctor, do you know her?" But he ignored Amy as he stepped forward. Soon he was inches away from the woman he never thought he'd see again, noses barely touching. Rose reached her hand up to caress his cheek but suddenly the Doctor snatched her wrist and squeezed so tight he saw her flinch in pain.

"You haven't been Rose for a very, very long time, have you?" Suddenly Rose blinked and her eyes shifted black. The Doctor only scowled, throwing her wrist down and stepping back by Amy's side.

"It's me, _Doctor_." She spat his name out like a curse, ruining the impact of her words. The Doctor's look of anger only increased by the second.

"Who are you? And what have you done with Rose?"

"Blah blah blah blah blah that's all I'm hearing. Can't you ever think of something intelligent to say?"

"When did this happen exactly? Was it on Galvastor, the parasitic alien we found back in my more Northern body, or are you a Dalek creation meant to torture me?"

"Neither. Remember Valitosa Five?" The Doctor's eyes flew open as the memories came flashing back, clear as day. She had been so distracted that day, distant even. That had been just before Canary Wharf when he lost her, when her behavior all day had confused him to no end.

 _"Mum, you say it like I'm going to be here forever."_

But on that day on Valitosa he had only counted it up as 'that time of month', nothing more. They had split up for quite a few hours, that would have been more than enough time for something to take her...

"I did not take her." said a male voice from behind 'Rose' as if reading his thoughts, the same voice that the Doctor had heard earlier when he was forced to kill the comatose woman. "She came to me." Immediately the fake Rose brightened up as she turned to him. He was tall and wore a hooded cloak. As he stepped into the light he pulled the hood off. He looked human and young, about thirty looking, with jet black hair, strong chin and cheekbones, and eyes so dark they were nearly black.

"You." The Doctor spat. "You did this to her."

"Dagon the Sorcerer, at your service, and yes, I did, but by her permission. That's how my magic works. I merely take what comes to me and transforms it into the way they want."

"Rose never would have wanted this. Is she dead?"

"She did. And she's not dead, she's right here." To demonstrate, he pulled this version of Rose to him and snogged her. She responded by throwing her arms around his head and pulled him closer, digging into him like he was her only source of nourishment. Perhaps it was.

The Doctor stood there quivering in rage, fingers digging into his palms so tightly blood began to trickle down. What seemed like hours but was in reality only a few minutes they pulled apart, breathless.

"I was his the moment I first kissed him." She whispered, her voice airy. The Doctor only felt more rage at that. When the pair turned towards the time lord, they found the sonic pointed at them. His hands were shaking and Amy had never, ever seen the look of bitter rage on his face, not to this extreme.

"Give her back to me, right now. I'm dangerous enough to your kind, but you took the thing I loved most." At that Amy gasped. Loved? "That's enough to scare even the toughest Dalek, and believe me, it has."

 _"I know I'd better stop trying_  
 _You know that there's no denying_  
 _I won't show mercy on you now_  
 _I know, should stop believing_  
 _I know, there's no retrieving_  
 _It's over now, what have you done?"_

* * *

Rose's essence and Rory had been talking for a few minutes, and Rory had learned nearly everything about the strange woman who used to travel with the Doctor. Hearing the Doctor's name had brought everything back for the young blonde, apparently.

He was surprised to hear that she had been a former companion of the Doctor's who Rose admitted she had fallen in love with. Which turned out to be the cause of her detriment.

In a selfish yet unselfish move, she asked a powerful sorcerer to remove her feelings for her time lord companion, and in turn, he had given her a potion that contained a Viltra and slowly began to take control of her body. Removing not only her feelings of love but her feelings of goodness, kindness and self-control. It also slowly emptied her very soul into this contraption that kept her essence alive but apart from her body.

Viltras lived in another dimension, one war-torn and savaged by lust, greed, anger and all of the other worst sins. They were gaseous creatures by nature who could only communicate in this world by inhabiting an empty but still functional host.

"And Dagon brought in the very worst one. The Queen of all Viltras. She's nearly an equivalent of a goddess of lore by Earth's standards in relation to power. Once she's completely taken over my body her power will tear through this entire universe, ripping it apart and recreating it to her standards, which, believe me, is not a good thing. She'll also recreate more empty bodies like mine for the rest of the Viltra species in the other dimension to inhabit, killing millions to do so. She doesn't have full control yet but she will in just a few days."

"So what do we do?" Rory asked her. Rose looked at him with hopelessness in her eyes.

"Nothing. There's nothing we can do."

* * *

Dagon rolled his eyes at the Doctor with his sonic screwdriver pointed right at his face.

"Your sonic has no use here, time lord. Now put it down before you put someone's eye out." The Doctor lowered his sonic weakly, the anger in his eyes changing to overwhelmed. Amy had never seen the Doctor like this. All he could do was stand there completely shell-shocked, staring at that blonde woman like he had seen a ghost.

Out of nowhere he exploded, lashing out like a wild animal, cursing and throwing himself at Dagon. At the last second Dagon hit a switch on a device on his wrist and a shield came between them and the Doctor. He beat on the barrier in fury as he raged.

"You let her go this instant or so help me I'll destroy this entire place, sonic or no!" Amy tried to hold him back before he broke a bone or something. He struggled in Amy's grip but she refused to let go.

"I'm not being held against my will, love," the woman said, much too calmly for the situation. Immediately her words stopped the Doctor.

"It's not true." he retorted weakly, no strength in his voice anymore. Had he heard nothing that had been said before? Amy thought. Maybe he was just deluding himself. Whoever this woman was, she held something over him that Amy herself once thought she had. She had once foolishly thought that she was the only important woman to the Doctor and had been the only one to be so in his ridiculously long life. Oh how stupid she had been back then!

Her very narrow scope of the Doctor had widened into something so much more. She suddenly felt so small. What else hadn't she known about the Time Lord going through emotional turmoil beside him?

"It is." the woman replied. "I made the choice out of my own free will. In fact you could say you drove me to it. You never were enough, I needed more!" Amy didn't think the Doctor could look anymore heartbroken, but again he surprised her.

"Please. All this time I knew it was my fault, but, _please_." He spoke so quietly Amy doubted he even said it. His hands were shaking ever so slightly, and his green eyes were filled with certain dread.

"Take them away." Dagon demanded. "I bore of this tearful reunion." The not-Rose woman wearing her face nodded and pulled out a lethal-looking laser pistol. "Separate cells." He added on impulse. "On either side of the ship, if possible."

"NO!" Amy screamed as she was chained to the wall and forced to watch as the Doctor was led away to who knows where.

* * *

"No, I can't accept that." Rory had been arguing with Rose about the current situation. He was so frustrated at her. She seemed like she used to be this vibrant, curious woman who would have done anything to save the universe, at any cost. Now she was giving up like there was nothing left to live for.

Sure, she was just an essence of a soul, barely a person but Rory refused to believe she couldn't be that woman again.

"We can't stop Dagon and the Viltra Queen." Rose retorted with the same argument she'd been using for the past twenty minutes. "Once she's fully inhabited my body her power will be unimaginable."

"There's always a way out, the Doctor taught me that, I know he taught the same to you. You can't just give up!"

"Well what are we supposed to do?!" Rose slammed her palms against the glass. "We're not even two people! Just one man and barely a weak, pathetic, excuse for a soul."

"You're not weak." Rory said softly, turning up to look at her from his sitting position on the floor. "You just made a weak choice. We all have our moments." He looked down into his lap, his fingers twisting around a frayed hole in his jeans. "I didn't want to travel with the Doctor, not at first. I didn't think I could handle it. Not like Amy, my wife, she's so strong. What is she doing with me?" Rose didn't reply to that, knowing it wasn't her place. Instead she looked up, delving into her memories that had come back with such force.

"My boyfriend didn't want to travel with us either, at first. But he did. And it made him into a much stronger person than he had ever been... So much so he didn't even realise."

"Why? What made him go in the first place?"

"Because he thought we still had something. He fought so hard, but he had already lost me." The look on her face was one of regret. "He was so, so good to me. I didn't deserve him." Rory looked at Rose again.

"Am I deluding myself? Have I already lost her?"

"Didn't you say you were married?"

"Yes but..." how did he even begin to explain it? "He's always been there. Since she was seven. She made me dress up like him when we were kids. I constantly felt like second place in her heart. Sure, we still got married, but he's always there, and I always feel like she settled for me. We almost..." His chest tightened with the memories. "we almost got divorced. Had the papers and everything."

"Why didn't you?" her voice was quiet, gentle.

"She...she wanted me to have a better life. She can't have kids, and I-" His voice broke and tears filled his eyes. He looked up at the ceiling, hating how weak he sounded. "I-I've always wanted them. She thought she was giving me up." He ran the back of his hand over one of his eyes to get rid of some of the moisture. "But I'd rather have her than a hundred kids." Rose didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally she spoke, her voice still soft, nearly a whisper.

"That sure sounds like love to me." Rory stood up at that and faced her, his hands on the glass. She placed her palms over his and looked into his eyes. "Don't give up on her." She said a bit louder, strength growing with each word. "Not like I gave up on the Doctor. I ran away from love, don't make the same mistake." Oddly, her eyes glazed over and she appeared to forget what she had been saying. Suddenly fear flashed on her face. "Get down! He's coming!"

"Where? There's nowhere to hide!" There was nothing else in the room except the container she was in.

"Under my unit, there's an empty storage compartment in there, on the left side." Rory found the drawer she was talking about and dove in. It was dusty but otherwise empty, just like she said. He could see through the crack in the side as Dagon strode in, looking like he owned the place.

"How's my little Bad Wolf doing today?" He said, confidence oozing out of every word. Rory didn't hear a reply. "We have a special guest. Bet you'll never guess–"

"You let him go this instant. He has nothing to do with us."

"Ah, so you do know. And you're speaking now, what a wonder. Must still be some connection between you and Kalia."

"Don't say her name in front of me."

"Why not? Pretty soon she will be wearing your body like an old coat, and you will be nothing. We won't even need you anymore."

"I don't care what you do to me. Just let him go. He's not involved –"

"Oh but he is, he has everything to do with this. Him and his orange-haired friend will be the only witnesses of Kalia's takeover. Soon the universe will be hers to play with like putty. The Viltra race will be the masters of the universe once more."

"And what will happen to you? Has she promised you a place at her side? Because she's lying. Once she's in power they'll destroy everything, including you."

"Don't delude me with your trickery. Those old villains in those earth movies may fall for it but this is real life, sweetheart. Enjoy your eternity inside that box." He turned away but stopped when Rose threw herself up against the glass.

 _"I wish I never met you!"_ She screamed with such ferocity even Dagon seemed surprised. But he recovered quickly and grinned.

"If only wishes had magic powers, dearie. Too bad I'm the only one with those abilities." With that he left, and Rory could hear quiet sobs coming from above.

* * *

 _"Would you mind if I killed you?_  
 _Would you mind if I tried to?_  
 _'cause you have turned into my worst enemy_  
 _You carry hate that I don't feel_  
 _It's over now_  
 _What have you done?"_

Minutes turned into days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Months turned into years and years turned into minutes.

However long this torture had gone on for, the Doctor couldn't begin to estimate. He hadn't actually been physically tortured, but what caused the time lord the most pain was the mental torture.

He saw her every day. Nearly every waking minute, inside his cell, his arms and legs bound in metal chains. Whether she was actually there or not, well, he wasn't sure about that either. She would come to him where he was held as a prisoner and as hard as he tried, he couldn't refuse her. She would play him like he was a wind-up doll then leave him suddenly in pieces, waiting to be wound up again.

He would just recover from his last bout when she would come to him once more. Sometimes it was good, but most of the time it was bad. Ordinarily he would assume she was just a figment of his imagination, but everything was so hazy he sometimes doubted if anything existed anymore. It all was blurry, like his head was underwater. In fact it felt like he was drowning too. 'Rose' would say things like _"You drove me to it."_ and _"I never loved you. Don't you remember what I said? 'That's a shame'._ "

 _"Feels like the weight of the world,_  
 _Like all my screaming has gone unheard._  
 _And oh, I know you don't believe in me._  
 _Safe in the dark, how can you see?"_

Sometimes she would appear as the young nineteen year-old he had first met, her eyes wide with fear as she was strangled to death by Dagon.

Sometimes she would kiss him like there was no tomorrow, like he was her only source of breath. Like she actually loved him. Whenever she kissed him he never resisted. How could he, when he had loved her with all his hearts and soul? Then she would leave him again to wallow in his endless agony.

Over time, he began to believe her lies. He had actually driven her to it, to do the worst and remove her own love just to save their friendship, and all because he had never been enough. Had never shown any kind of love, when in fact every ounce of his hearts belonged to her. Why hadn't he ever told her so before he lost her to Dagon? Would it have been so bad? He knew he had his reasons for not telling her back then, but at the moment he couldn't remember.

And the worst part about it was they weren't actually lies.

" _If you love me, then let go of me.  
I won't be held down by who I used to be.  
She's nothing to me."_

* * *

"So, why isn't there anybody else here? Any guards or soldiers?" Rory asked Rose's essence what had been on his mind since he first entered this horrid place.

"Dagon's taking care of everything himself. He's too afraid of something happening to my body. If anything were to happen she would be stuck between universes and die."

"Wait a minute...that means there must be an opening right? Maybe we can destroy it." Rose shook her head.

"There's no way to destroy it. Dagon's put up magical barriers around the whole thing."

"There's no such thing as magic." He said without thinking, which surprised him. Sure, he had argued with the Doctor about it but faced with actual thing, he couldn't make himself believe it either.

"How could you possibly know that?" Rose bit back. "In order to prove it you'd have to know every single thing in the entire universe." Rory's mouth opened in astonishment. That had been his exact retort to the Doctor. Rory found he couldn't reply. Rose continued. "The same could apply to anything you can't see. Heaven, God, Love, werewolves. Hell there are probably still people on Earth who don't think aliens exist." Rory was quiet for another minute, before turning to look at her, a smile on his face.

"You're pretty wise."

"I learned the hard way." She replied quietly. Silence fell again.

"Hold on, werewolves?" Rose laughed.

"Yeah. Werewolves."

"Vampires." Rory replied simply.

"What? Really?"

"Well, sorta. They were more like alien fish but...yeah it was close enough." Their laughter resounded around the room. Suddenly Rory jumped up. Rose jerked her head back in surprise. "Enough! I can't just sit around while some...thing has my wife! We're going to do something."

"We ca-"

"I don't want to hear that. The fate of the universe is at stake. The Doctor would want us to come up with some sort of plan." That shut her up. "Now," Rory said, coming up to her. "You said you can see through her eyes. Can you tell me where the Doctor is?" Rose closed her eyes tightly.

"She's in the control room. Damn. She's blocked off the Doctor's location from me. But I know where Amy is!"

* * *

Amy groaned. Her head hurt like hell after she had been thrown into this cell and left like an unwanted dog. Her cell phone had died hours ago, but if it had been correct before it did, she'd been here about sixteen hours.

A plate of food had appeared out of nowhere at her side but she hadn't touched it. It was childish but she didn't want to give this Dagon any sort of power over her. Even if that power only meant satisfying her hunger.

She hoped the Doctor was okay and that he wasn't being tortured or anything. Dagon had looked too pleased at the heartbroken expression on the time lord's face, and that worried Amy more than anything. Even more than the thought that the Doctor had had another female companion before her, who possibly could've been his lover.

Sure, she knew there were other girls, like Donna, but she thought that they couldn't have been that influential, the way the Doctor never spoke of his time with them.

But the way the Doctor had talked to this "Rose" had made her think that maybe she wasn't the most important woman in his life and never was.

A noise at the cell door made her jump out of her thoughts. As the door opened she leapt up, baring her fists like a boxer. In the darkness she couldn't really see who it was, but she did see a figure. Without waiting to see, she let a fist fly.

"Owch!" said a familiar voice.

"Rory?!" Amy cried, shocked. She had nearly forgotten about him. He stepped into the light and Amy winced. She hadn't broken his nose but there was a bit of blood. "Sorry." She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"Danks." He said, his nose plugged up. "If dis is the kin' of gree'ing I get, I would like to dee what Dagon gets!"

"What are you doing here?" She asked, ignoring him.

"I came to dave you!" He said, still holding on to his nose.

"To save me?" he nodded. "Where's the Doctor?" Amy asked. He blew his nose one last time and that seemed to clear it.

"Rose helped me hack into a computer in one of the corridors. He's in the main room. Here, I'll take you." The two of them ran out of the cell, unaware of the hidden camera watching their every move.

"Rose, did you say Rose?"

"I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"The two humans are heading towards the Doctor." The Viltra inside Rose's body said, watching Amy and Rory on the security cameras. Dagon came up behind her.

"All according to plan." She turned around and smiled at him. He gazed at her with longing in his dark eyes. "I love you." He whispered.

"I know." She said, turning back around, her eyes just as black as his.

* * *

"I was sure it was this way." Rory said after they reached another dead end.

"Oh great. We're lost, stupid face."

"We're not lost, I just forgot the way."

 _"Go right."_ said a voice inside Rory's head.

"Right?"

"Of course I'm right dear." His wife replied.

"No. Shh." Amy wrinkled her nose, not liking being told what to do.

 _"Rory, this is Rose. I've created a telepathic link between us in your head. Ooh. Someone's been here before."_

 _"Yeah, that was the human version of the Doctor's TARDIS."_

 _"Really? I'd like to hear that story. Anyway, go back the way you came and take the first right. Go ahead about forty feet and there's a door on the left. The Doctor's in there."_

"Got it." Rory said out loud.

"Who are you talking to?" Amy asked.

"Never mind. This way!" He took off the way Rose had said.

* * *

"I don't like this." Rory said once they reached the door.

"What?"

"This is too easy."

"You think this is some sort of trap? You've been watching too many movies." Amy opened the door. Rory rushed to stop her. Hadn't he just rescued her from a trap?

"Amy, wait!" But it was too late, his wife had already entered. He followed and stepped inside a room completely dark.

"Help me find the light." Amy said as she looked around. Suddenly the lights switched on as the doors behind them slammed shut.

There stood Dagon and the Viltra, Dagon with his laser pistol aimed at them. The Doctor sat bound in chains and gagged in the corner, his eyes wide with fear. He struggled and shouted against his bonds but all that came out was muffling. Amy didn't like how gaunt and tired his face and eyes were. They had only been here less than twenty-four hours and he looked like he'd been tortured for a year. Amy went to move towards him but Dagon stopped her. He motioned for her to move back towards Rory.

"Thanks for joining us." Dagon said, his voice sultry and low. "Now we can finally get this party started. Rory, nice to make your acquaintance, thanks for finally coming. We knew the Doctor had two companions, we figured you'd show your face sooner or later."

"B-but...how?"

"You didn't think I couldn't see through Rose's eyes too? You idiotic human!" The Viltra sneered at him. "I could see everything! We've been two steps ahead of you the whole time! The soul of this original body thinks she's so powerful. Well, she was at one point, but I am the Bad Wolf now. And soon you'll be the only witnesses of my total takeover. Any minute now." The Doctor's eyes had grown even wider, having known none of this. That his Rose was somewhere on this ship? Could it be true? He dared not hope.

The Viltra turned towards the Doctor and ripped his gag off.

"You hear that? Your precious Rose is nothing more than an essence in a jar, like a germ in a petri dish. What do you have to say to that?" Despite being able to use his mouth now, he refused to say a word. How could he, when he'd never felt this helpless in his life? Never had he once screwed up this badly.

A sparkling rupture appeared in the middle of the room, crackling and hissing like a living creature. Rory and Amy shielded their eyes at the sudden brightness.

"Ah, finally! The rest of my soul is nearly ready to fully inhabit the human girl's body." She smiled as she faced the rupture. "Soon my family will join me."

"And what you promised me?" Dagon said, his voice demanding.

"Yeah. About that..." Her eyes flashed black. With a flick of her hand Dagon flew backwards and skidded on the floor until he hit the far wall forcefully. "Thanks for everything dear, but I can take care of myself now." His hand went for the gun but she flicked that away from him too.

"Amy! The sonic!" The Doctor cried. Amy gave a start as the Doctor's sonic screwdriver rolled to her feet. It must have been in Dagon's pocket and flew out when the Viltra tossed him across the room. "The rupture is vulnerable now, it'll disrupt the frequency, green setting 12!" Amy had worked the sonic before and had the setting done in seconds. The Viltra's face grew red with rage. Amy walked forward brandishing the sonic, standing between Kalia and Dagon who appeared to be held against the far wall by the Viltra.

"You put that down, now!" She cried, Rose's brown eyes scowling in rage.

"You even lift a finger towards me and your soul will be stuck between universes for eternity!"

Rory meanwhile, heard a noise to the side of him. Looking, he was horrified to see Dagon pull a knife out of his boot and prepare to throw it towards Amy.

"Get down!" He immediately leapt towards his wife and tackled her. They both fell to the ground with a _'thud'_. Rory looked at her quickly, praying to God that knife hadn't gotten her. "Are you okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Amy replied and coughed roughly, having had the wind knocked out of her. They heard a gasp and the sound of someone falling to the floor. They looked up and saw it was the Viltra with the knife embedded into Rose's stomach. Dagon screamed out in horror and pain. Having been let go of the spell keeping him in place, he rushed over and collapsed at her side.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my beautiful Queen, I'm sorry!" She tried to talk but blood came out her mouth. Finally she barely made out

 _"You fool."_ Before the black in her eyes disintegrated like dust and she fell limp in Dagon's arms. With a cry like a wounded animal he rocked her back and forth, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm sorry," he muttered over and over. Amy and Rory could only watch as the rupture behind them flickered and faded away. Slowly regaining his composure, the once-powerful sorcerer, brought down by a twisted form of love, looked down at the blade in Rose's stomach. Slowly pulling it out, he gazed at the bloody weapon, emptiness in his eyes. Rory, seeing what was going to happen, tried to stop him.

"No!" But Dagon plunged the dagger into his chest, killing him instantly. He collapsed forward over Rose's body.

Amy rushed over to the Doctor, who had become still with shock. She had to use a hair pin to work the locks, which only took her about a minute. As soon as his manacles fell to the floor he stumbled over to Rose's body.

"Rose...Rose..." Pushing Dagon's body off, he grabbed Rose's form and shook her gently. Blood poured over his fingers but her eyes refused to register anything. "Rory," He gasped. "Is there..." Rory knelt down by his side.

"She's dead. I'm sorry." The Doctor could only look at him with desperation in his teary eyes, before turning back to the body of his once vibrant Rose. He couldn't believe it. After all this time...

He had failed her again.

 _"There's a curse between us.  
_ _Between me and you."_

* * *

 **I'M SORRY. But you should know me by now, at least if you've read some of my other stories, you know this isn't the end.**

 **I feel that Rory and Rose are so alike that they'd be fast BFFs. :)  
**


	12. 11 - A New Life

**Shoutout to Erica01 and Seralina. You guys rock \^^/ Another long chapter today!  
**

* * *

 _"Rose...Rose..." Pushing Dagon's body off, he grabbed Rose's form and shook her gently. Blood poured over his fingers but her eyes refused to register anything. "Rory," He gasped. "Is there..." Rory knelt down by his side._

 _"She's dead. I'm sorry." The Doctor could only look at him with desperation in his teary eyes, before turning back to the body of his once vibrant Rose. He couldn't believe it. After all this time..._

 _He had failed her again._

 **Chapter Eleven – A New Life**

 _He had failed her._ He had failed her once again. He had done nothing but fail her since the day they met. And her mother had been right. He had eventually been the cause of her death.

Rory put a hand on his shoulder, trying to console him.

"Doctor, I'm sorry. But there's still-"

"Her essence," he gasped as he remembered suddenly, looking up at him. "Take me to her."

* * *

The room where Rory had first found Rose was quiet. The Doctor entered first, his footsteps barely making any noise on the floor.

"Rose?" He gaped, seeing her knelt on her knees on her platform, hands at the glass, staring at him with those wide, brown eyes he had dreamed about for hundreds of years. It had been so, so long since he had seen them.

"Doctor," She said, tears filling her eyes. He came up to her station and placed his hands over her palms.

"Rose, I'm so sorry, it was an accident, your body-" He motioned to Rory, who brought her body forward and set it down beside them. Rose looked at it sadly.

"I know. I felt when it happened. Thankfully at the last second enough of my soul was deposited in here to keep me alive so I wouldn't be stuck too, but I guess I was denied the ability to touch you ever again. My penance."

"Oh Rose. My beautiful Bad Wolf. You've done nothing wrong."

"But...I made the choice to-"

"You did it out of selflessness. I was never enough for you. And I'm sorry." She smiled at him tearfully.

"We were both at fault." She said quietly. He didn't reply to that. Rose sighed, dropping her hands and stepping back. "Well, let's not draw out this goodbye for much longer can we? This is already hard enough."

"No, wait!" Amy said, coming up. She had no idea what the hell was going on but she didn't like where it was heading. "There has to be some other way. She can't just die!"

"But I have no body to live in Amy. I'll have to live here in eternity. Letting me dissipate and die is showing me mercy."

"No." The Doctor said quietly, his eyes lighting up. "No!" He exclaimed suddenly. "All you need is a body, right?" She nodded.

"An uninhabited one." She didn't like the prospect of possessing a living creature, like some sort of demon.

"And I know where to get one." Without another word he took off.

"Where is he going?" Rory asked.

"Who knows?" Rose replied.

"Yeah, he does that." Amy said.

"What happened to your face?" Rose pointed at Rory's nose.

"A redhead with a fierce right hook." Amy smacked his shoulder, much to Rose's amusement.

Within another minute the sound of the TARDIS reverberated around the trio. Soon they were all inside the TARDIS. Rose gazed around in wonder, still stuck in her glass prison.

"It's beautiful." She murmured. The console of the TARDIS lit up in approval. "Of course, I still liked the other one..." The Doctor's excitement turned to sudden sombreness.

"Rose, your body, can I...can I bury it in the garden?" It was an awkward subject but thankfully Rose didn't seem too affected.

"Of course." It had been one of her favorite rooms in the TARDIS back when she used to travel with him. The Doctor nodded, bending down to pick up her lifeless form.

"I'll just put it in a stasis chamber until the time is right." With that done, the Doctor came back and began his dance around the console. "Let's get out of that horrid place, shall we?"

"I haven't seen anything different for...I don't even know how long." She had lost count around a hundred years.

"Well, Rose Tyler. If my plan works, you'll soon see a whole lot more than just your reflection."

"What is this plan anyway?" Amy said, coming up the stairs towards them. But he just gave her that grin that said he wasn't talking. Finally he shouted in triumph.

"Rory, get the door. Amy, I need your help. Rose?" He turned towards her.

"Yes Doctor?" Her chest filled with hope, so much that it felt so unfamiliar.

"Stay beautiful." He gave her an enormous grin and practically leapt out the doors of the TARDIS.

* * *

Nobody would tell her what was happening. All Rose knew was every couple minutes or so Amy or Rory would come inside, grab something random like a cardboard box or a hammer, and leave her in silence again. Every once in a while she'd hear out of the sometimes-open doors things like

 _"Amy! I said the round one!"_ and _"Yowch! It electrocuted me!"_ She didn't let it show but every time one of them left her heart leapt into her throat and she had to sit down to calm her tight breaths.

With little to no company (and that company being highly unpalatable) for the last hundred or so years had turned her into a creature terrified of being alone. Not that she wasn't used to it. Just because she knew what it felt like didn't make it any less horrifying.

But it was better now. She was inside the TARDIS, her essence was more or less in one piece, and the Doctor had some sort of plan that would get her a body. She trusted him with her entire life, but she couldn't convince herself that there really was a way that didn't end with her dissipating into thin air like mist in spring.

* * *

By estimation it was about two and a half hours before the Doctor came back into the TARDIS with Amy and Rory, each lugging in boxes filled with scrap parts and metal.

"Had to take apart the whole device in order to get it through the doors." The Doctor said as Rory hauled in the last box, making in total seven boxes.

"What does this device do?" Rose asked, but he only grinned at her knowingly.

"Do you need our help any longer?" Rory asked. The Doctor shook his head.

"Nah. I got it from here. You two'd just get in the way. Head up to bed, I'll see you tomorrow." The Ponds nodded and headed up the stairs. Amy turned to Rose.

"He loves to hide things, thinking he's so mysterious. Don't take it personally."

"Get to bed Pond." The Doctor growled in annoyance. Amy shrugged, unaffected. Within another minute the Doctor and Rose were alone.

The Time Lord pulled over the first box and sat on the floor in front of it. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to fiddle with a couple pieces of metal Rose couldn't identify. She knew it'd be useless to ask him about anything he was doing, so she sat there in awkward silence, trying to think of something to say.

When she finally did speak, her voice was soft and cracked at first.

"What time is it?" It was a question she used to ask him all the time when she first traveled with him, which she didn't remember until the words were out of her mouth. He looked at her and frowned. She knew he was remembering the past as well.

He used to tease her about how it didn't matter because time was relative inside the vortex She expected him to answer along the same lines, but his voice was also quiet and tinged with emotion.

"8:03 PM." Silence.

So many thoughts flittered through her head but none of them were good enough to say out loud. And where would she start? She had so many questions, so many things she wanted to know.

But Rose knew she didn't deserve any of it. Hell, she didn't even deserve to die. What she did deserve was to be left alone in that dark dungeon, trapped as an essence of a soul inside her glass cage for eternity.

So why had the universe sent the Doctor to save her, after all this time? Had she finally paid her penance? She refused to believe it. These were also questions she wanted the Doctor to answer, but her mouth stayed shut.

About an hour later she couldn't stand it anymore. She had lived in silence for so long she refused to do so now.

"So..." He looked up from his tinkering at her quiet voice. "W-what have you been doing all these years?" He shrugged, turning away from her.

"Oh, not much. Same old."

"Last of the Time Lords?" he nodded. Rose, her voice bolstering in confidence, asked another question.

"When did you regenerate?"

"A couple years after you le- I mean, after I lost you. Still not ginger." He laughed softly, but immediately stopped laughing when he heard her crying.

"Rose, what..." She was sitting in her cage, tears streaming down her face.

"I...I didn't want to tell you, but-I..I killed them! I killed them all!" She started sobbing harder and uncontrollably.

"Who, what?"

"M-my family. That whole world." She hiccuped. Like a flash the Doctor remembered Mickey's dying message as he lay in front of him after being shot by the Dalek.

 _"Doctor, I came all this way, it's about Rose..."_

 _"Rose...she...they're all gone...stop h-..."_

"The viltra needed the energy of an entire universe in order to get across the Void and back to Dagon. That whole universe burned and screamed, and it's all my fault!" She couldn't control herself now. Her body shook as the weight of guilt the size of a planet crashed down on her. The Doctor rushed to her unit, pressing himself up against the glass. As close as he could get to her. She shook her head and backed away to the other side like a wounded animal. Like she would destroy him too if he got too close.

"Rose, that wasn't you." He shouted over her sobs, wishing he could hold her in some way. "It never was. You didn't kill anybody." The Doctor had been horrified to hear what had happened to her family and that world, but he knew that Rose would probably do something stupid if this went unchecked. "All you did was make a bad choice."

"That bad choice lead to the deaths of millions, billions. My family...Tony..." She buried her face in her bent knees and wrapped her arms around her legs.

"None of your fault. It was a demon possessing you. They'd tell you the same thing, don't let them die in vain."

"How?" She gasped, turning her red eyes towards him.

"By not letting your life be lived any less than they would have wanted you to." She didn't reply, only stared at him for a minute or two, her sobs dying down, finally. As if she was contemplating whether or not he was telling the truth. As soon as he knew she would be alright he turned away. "Now, get some sleep, this is going to take a while."

"I can't." The Doctor assumed she was referring to not being able to because of the state she was in.

"Well, try. It's going to be a big day tomorrow." She shook her head.

"No, I mean. I physically can't. Not without a body."

"What?" He spun back around. "...These hundreds of years, you haven't slept once?" The prospect was horrifying, having to stay awake that whole time... She nodded. The Doctor shook his head ruefully, cursing Dagon and his viltra.

"Well, at least try and get some rest." She conceded, turning her back towards him and laying down so he wouldn't see her wide open eyes and the tears streaming down her swollen cheeks.

* * *

The only sounds in the room were the clinking and tinkering of the Doctor as he reassembled his device, and Rose's soft sobs as she tried to drown out the sound of her family dying in her mind.

Was this what the Doctor felt like all the time? Like the entire world that he destroyed threatened to crush him every waking minute?

At least the Doctor had had a good reason to. All she had was a selfish choice to forget the one she loved.

She felt like she would reap those repercussions until the end of time.

* * *

Every once in a while as the Doctor worked he would steal a glance at his blonde ethereal companion. He knew she wasn't resting, much less sleeping. Not when she had become like him in a matter of seconds. Could she feel her hand slamming down on some red button that activated the nuclear device that blew up a planet, as he did? Could she still hear the screams of the children mixed with the shouts of Daleks still trying to destroy them? No, of course not. That was only him. But still...

He would never wish what had happened to him to anybody, much less the woman who he desired to protect the most. The girl he had lost and torn his hearts out on the same day, who turned out to not actually be her at all, which eased his own pain of the memory a bit.

And before that, the girl who had shown him unconditional love and friendship when that had been the last thing he deserved.

Well, now it was his turn to make things right, and he would accomplish that even if it required his very last breath.

* * *

Rose had actually dozed off for a while, which had surprised her. She hadn't fully fallen asleep, but yet she had never gotten that close before. She attributed it to her more than marginally better surroundings. She groaned and flipped around, before gasping and sitting up straight.

The device in front of her was huge. One side looked like a sort of stasis device that looked a lot like her current holding cell, though larger and strangely, had a bed and a chair that kept flickering, telling her they were holographic. Like she was. The other side she couldn't really describe.

The closest thing she could come to was some sort of tanning bed with no lid sitting upright at a 45 degree angle. In the middle was a round storage compartment that sounded like something was alive and bubbling inside. How this would get her a body, she had no clue. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen.

"Rise and shine Ponds!" She heard him shout from the top of the stairs. "Hurry up! The morning's nearly gone!" A few minutes later a bedraggled Amy and Rory appeared at the top of the steps.

Amy was wearing a pink robe that clashed with her red hair, which was currently disheveled and tangled. Her eyes were red and she scowled at the grinning time lord in front of her. Rory didn't look much better. His blue robe went much better with his sandy hair and he held onto a cup of tea like it was keeping him afloat. Amy took the cup from her husband and took a large swig, before handing it back to Rory. He stared at it, frowning at what was left.

"It's five a.m., how is the bloody morning almost gone?" But the Doctor didn't answer as he leapt down the stairs two at a time and strutted towards the new device he had created.

"Ahuh?" He nodded, awaiting their approval.

"What is it?" Rory groaned, still not fully awake for talking. The Doctor frowned. Couldn't they tell?

"This is the machine that will give Rose a fully-functioning body. I do say fully-functioning, but what I really mean is that..."

"How does it work?" Rose tried to put some excitement in her voice to keep the Doctor focused.

"Ah, yes. I actually stole this technology from the "Ganger Island" in the 22nd century. The island was actually named Cassidy Island. Strange we never figured that out before." Amy and Rory frowned as the Doctor continued talking. Apparently they didn't have many happy memories of that place.

However none of this meant anything to Rose. The Doctor moved to the left half of the machine. "This part will be your new home. The one you're in now is much too small and cramped and evil-looking." He motioned to the other side. "And this is where your new body will be made. There's a vat filled with the 'flesh' inside the connecting storage unit here." He motioned to the middle. "Anytime you want to leave the TARDIS or take a run or sit in the garden or anything like that, well now you can. And when you're done, you return to this and the flesh goes back into the vat, depositing your mind back inside your essence."

"But, what if...what if something happens to my body? Will I die?" The Doctor grinned.

"That's the best part. You're controlling the body while never leaving your compartment. If anything happens to your body, you wake up in here. And the flesh remakes itself so it's more than enough to keep doing that forever." Rose couldn't believe it.

"So...I'll live forever." It was a statement, not a question. He nodded.

"Or as long as you want."

"I'll...I live as long as you." That was even better than forever. He nodded again. Rose couldn't hold back tears at that.

"I don't deserve this." The Doctor's smile fell. He approached her.

"Yes, you do. I know you don't understand now but let me show you, okay? Just promise me that. We'll take it one day at a time." She nodded. "Well, let's get started! There's no time to waste." Rose grinned through her tears and contradicted him.

"There's all the time in the world to waste." His smile back was infectious.

* * *

Despite her earlier enthusiasm, she was now nervous. The first step was to get her into her new containment unit, which if anything went wrong, she would be left as atoms in the air, never to be human again. The Doctor had checked over the long tube running from her old unit to the new one about a million times, sonicking it as well just to make sure everything was absolutely air tight.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Rose hated how her voice shook.

"Alright. Let's go." Rose closed her eyes and forced her essence to go through the conduit. She felt the air whoosh around her until she stopped, her head a little loopy.

"Rose, open your eyes." She obeyed. Her new home was sitting around her. She gave a little squeal of joy.

"Thank you Doctor. It's so pretty." There were even holographic flowers in a vase next to her nightstand. Was that the 7th Harry Potter book sitting next to her bed? She shook her head in silly delight and slight exasperation.

"I can program it anyway you want. And the whole device will sit right here next to the console so the TARDIS can keep an eye on you." He walked around her unit and nodded. "Having a body made of flesh may wear you out sometimes, so here you can recharge in a living area that isn't an eyesore."

"Thank you." She said again, tears filling her eyes. "I really don't deserve any of your kindness."

"Yes, you do." He said once again. He understood how she felt. He hadn't been able to live with himself for years after the time war. "Believe me." He put his hand to the glass. Rose placed her hand over his. "Ready to try this out?" She nodded. If the first part was dangerous, this would be doubly so. Trying to get her mind to work a body made of flesh was technology Rose couldn't even begin to describe. But from the way the Doctor kept pacing and checking everything caused a tinge of worry in the pit of her stomach.

This whole time Amy and Rory had been standing off to the side, watching the pair silently. Amy had better intuition than Rory, and she knew the Doctor loved this 'Rose'. Even if it felt like they had just met, the Doctor had obviously known her for much, much longer than that.

Amy didn't know much about what had happened, just that Rose used to travel with him and had broken his hearts before becoming possessed by the Viltra. But what did it all mean for River? She knew that they never had a real relationship but nevertheless Amy was very protective of her daughter and she'd hate to see her heart broken.

But the way the Doctor acted with Rose, like she was some priceless treasure that had to be protected at all costs, lead her to believe that maybe the Doctor didn't love her daughter at all. That he was doing it only because it felt like the right thing to do, to preserve the timelines.

Plus, she knew that River and the Doctor didn't have much time together left, since their timelines were traveling backwards from each other. Hell, even her and Rory would probably leave eventually. It was a topic of discussion between the two of them lately.

But wasn't that all the more reason to spend as much time as possible together, even if it wasn't defined by love? Well, whatever was going on, it was giving Amy a massive headache. And it certainly wasn't the time to bring any of this up, not when the Doctor was so excited to get Rose a new body.

Amy couldn't make herself look at the bubbling vat. She sometimes still had nightmares of her flesh collapsing into a puddle, of Melody melting right in her arms. Those things would never go away, but she hoped that the flesh could finally be used for something good for once. Rory seemed to sense her discomfort and hugged her to himself with one arm. She leaned into him gratefully.

Amy was so out of it she missed the Doctor prepping the machine. It started as a low purring, before that turned into a louder rumbling, then a sound like boiling water. Amy watched as Rose closed her eyes and immediately her essence turned into a sparkling gold cloud.

"Is she alright?" She asked worriedly.

"She's fine, she's fine." The Doctor reassured, waving a hand to keep her from thinking something was wrong. "She just needs the strength she normally uses to keep her essence looking like herself to put herself into her new form."

It was a silent few minutes, getting to the point where the Doctor started to get worried too. Just as he was about to pull his sonic screwdriver out he saw the flesh starting to pour into the left side of the machine and form into a body.

The three of them watched in fascination as her bare feet began to form, growing up to her legs. At this point Amy made Rory turn around and the Doctor grabbed a robe of his he had fetched earlier for this occasion. He couldn't keep his eyes off her body as her arms grew and a full head of blonde hair appeared. Her ears appeared first, followed by her nose and mouth. Her beautiful eyes formed last, brown and shining with tears.

The Doctor unstrapped her and she stumbled forward. Lovingly, the Doctor wrapped his TARDIS-blue robe around her body. She shivered, unaccustomed to feeling fabric against skin.

"How do you feel?" The Doctor asked her. Amy let Rory turn back around.

"Strange...like..." The Doctor saw her face turn green and he spun around, grabbing a bucket he had also brought up earlier. She immediately retched into it. Rory immediately tried to spring forward to help but Amy held him back.

"Let's give them some time alone." She said, pulling her husband away.

The Doctor held her hair back as she continued to retch. His fingers relished the texture of her hair, amazed at how lifelike it felt. As soon as she was done the Doctor moved to the console to grab her a towel and a drink of water.

"Thanks." She murmured as he handed them to her. "Not used to feeling things like that. I feel much better now."

"Good. I wasn't sure if you could still have...bodily functions like eating and...such...but...I guess you proved my point."

"I'm glad too. After not being human for so long, I'll take anything that's even remotely close to it." She wiped her mouth with the towel and took the glass of water from the Doctor's hands. After taking a sip she glanced at the liquid in surprise. The Doctor laughed as she decided to down the whole cup. "That was amazing!" She looked down at her hands and flexed her fingers. She smiled. "Oh it feels so good. I didn't think I could feel like this ever again." She looked down at her bare toes and wiggled them, which made the Doctor smile. He suddenly noticed how tired she looked.

"Here, let's sit down." Rose leaned on to him as he helped her over to the captain's chair.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she sat down. "This is harder than I thought."

"You'll get used to it more and more over time."

"Uhmf. I sure hope so." She kind of wanted to go back to her unit already. But one look at the hopeful gaze of the time lord in front of her made her want to try this, for a little while longer.

The Doctor could tell she was thinking about something, there was a troubled look behind her eyes.

"Rose," he whispered, already knowing. "It isn't your fault."

"But it is." She implored. "It always will be. I can never atone myself for what I did. I never should have gone to Dagon, I should have stayed with you." He reached a hand out and stroked the side of her head.

"How can I make you see that you didn't kill those people with your own hands?"

"But I did. I can see through my own eyes, see my own hands as they began the activation sequence that destroyed that universe." She started crying again, and was startled to feel moisture on her face.

"Someone else was controlling your hands. It was my own hands that killed Gallifrey, my direct actions that wiped out two entire species."

"But you had a reason."

"Doesn't make a difference."

"But it does! My mum, stepdad and brother are dead! Not to mention Jake, Gwen, Owen and Tosh and the rest of my team. Only Mickey was able to get away." The Doctor turned away, not wanting her to see the look on his face. But it didn't go unnoticed. "No. Not Mickey. He can't be-"

"He was shot by a Dalek, he saved my life." At this Rose started sobbing uncontrollably again. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her body as she sobbed into his shirt. "It's not your fault, it's not your fault." He whispered over and over until she fell asleep in his arms. With one swift move he carried her up the stairs and to his bedroom. He'd get her old bedroom set up soon for whenever she wanted to sleep outside her unit. But for now his bed would suffice just fine.

* * *

She was fast asleep under the covers of his bed, still dressed in the robe he had put on her. Her hand was grasping the duvet and she sniffled involuntarily, locked in sleep's embrace. The Doctor stood in the corner, watching her as she breathed in and out, in and out, in and out.

He ran a hand over his face, pressing his fingers into his closed eyelids. He still felt this gaping wound inside him where the viltra's torture had tore through him. He could still see her when he closed his eyes, her eyes filled with the darkness of the blackest black hole. The way she kissed him, her lifeless body in his arms...

He had to hold back a gasp as his chest tightened in that same ache of horror when he had first lost her. It didn't matter anymore. She was safe, she was fine, she was sleeping in his bed in front where he stood guard.

 _She could be with him forever._

That thought eased his pain like nothing else. All that he needed to do was to chase away her fears and mental demons. Same as she had done to him, back when they first met. Never in his life would he have thought he would have the chance to repay what she had done for him, how she had changed his life just by being her kind, beautiful self.

He couldn't help but smile as he saw her nose twitch in sleep. She still looked so tense but yet, this was the first time she had slept in hundreds of years. He would be more than surprised if she didn't have any nightmares tonight. He knew from experience.

And when she did, the Doctor would be right there to ward them off.

He stood at her side the whole night.

* * *

Rose didn't want to open her eyes. Sunlight streamed through her window, making her eyes shut even tighter. She knew her alarm was going to go off at any minute, then her mum would come barging in, asking her if she wanted eggs and toast or just tea. She stretched, trying to ward off the inevitable.

"Just tea mum." She murmured when she heard someone in the room. She didn't want to go to work today, she just wanted to lay in bed and...

She bolted upright, everything coming back to her in a flash. The Doctor was immediately by her side. Had he been standing there all night? The thought comforted her, somehow.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." She gripped her head. "Just remembering." She winced as the memories she had tried for hundreds of years to forget came flooding back. "Doctor, I...I can't."

"Can't what?" He reached an arm out to grasp her hand. She looked at him, tears in her eyes.

"I can't live like this! For hundreds of years, knowing what I've done!" Her voice grew louder and more agitated with each word. The Doctor didn't say anything for a minute, his thumb stroking hers softly. He didn't want to repeat anything he had said earlier, she wouldn't listen. Finally he said

"Do you know what helped me, there in the beginning when all I wanted to do was fly the TARDIS into a black hole?"

"What?" he looked up at her.

"You. You helped me show that there was life to be lived, people to save and places to see. That I was worth more than my past mistakes. _Please_ ," he begged her, his voice pleading "let me do the same for you. Let me fix you."

Slowly, she nodded. "Okay."

* * *

After the Doctor had helped her out of bed and get dressed (she hadn't done so in so long she nearly forgot how), the Doctor took her for a stroll down the corridors of the new TARDIS interior that Rose hadn't seen yet.

"She's so shiny." She commented, leaning into the Doctor's shoulder.

"I like it." He said, a bit defensively.

"Me too," she said, laughing. "I just needed to get used to it."

"You should have seen some of my old TARDISes, this is nothing."

"What, you haven't had an interior that said 'look at me, I'm a sexy alien showing off' theme?"

"Oi, you hush Tyler." She giggled harder, pressing her cheek into his arm.

"How are you doing?" She asked so quietly he nearly didn't hear.

"Me? I'm fine." Rose recognized that tone, the same one that said he was hiding stuff from her, for her good he would assume.

"I know you better than that. I know what the viltra did to you." She replied, looking up at him. He merely smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"Don't worry about me, dear. I'm better now that you're here. Let's get you fixed first, then we'll do something about me." She wanted to reply to that, but knew he was telling the truth. Already the dark rings under his eyes were fading and that sadness in his expression was getting brighter with hope.

"So," She said after a few more minutes of quiet 'sightseeing'. "What will happen when this body...quits?"

"Well, I'm hoping the flesh will merely dissolve and you'll wake up back in your unit."

"You hope?" Her voice rose anxiously.

"Well, there's risk in anything. Wouldn't worry though, I've made hundreds of tests."

"When did you have time to do that?"

"While you were sleeping."

"Huh. I didn't hear you leave the room."

"I didn't. I went through every contingency and error in my head. Believe me, it's just as effective as manual tests."

"If you say so."

"I do say so!" which made the blonde laugh again. It warmed the Doctor's hearts to hear her laughter resound around the walls of his ship. It had been so long...

* * *

Later that day, Rose had grown weary of trying to get used to a human body again, so she asked to go back inside her unit. She returned to her state as her essence with no hitches. Around that time Amy and Rory came back.

"Why don't you guys go somewhere fun?" Rose suggested.

"Without you?" The Doctor asked. She nodded.

"It'd be pretty boring just to sit around and watch me as a vapor."

"But, it'd be your first outing." He stuck out his lower lip like a toddler not getting his way. Rose couldn't help but laugh.

"We can do that another day. I'm too tired now." The Doctor was reluctant, but agreed.

"I'll take 'em to Coney Island. That way you won't miss anything." They had gone back when he wore leather and Jack traveled with them.

 _The Doctor had gotten them all ice cream cones. Rose, strawberry, Jack, chocolate, and of course the Doctor, banana sorbet. Jack had spilled some on his special coat and when the Doctor laughed, got a face full of Jack's chocolate ice cream. Rose had laughed so hard she had to sit down._

"I'd forgotten about that day." Rose said quietly, contemplatively.

"There's more good than bad memories, if you look hard enough." He replied, remembering that memory as well.

"The bad leaves a more permanent scar, but the bad memories don't make the good memories any less worthy of remembrance." She agreed. The Doctor looked at her in surprise. He had said something similar like that to Amy long ago.

* * *

Rose was getting more and more confident with each time. Soon she even wanted to try forming with clothes on so she didn't come out naked.

A week after her first try, she moved to her flesh body complete with a cute yellow sundress number. As soon as she was stable she grabbed the Doctor and kissed him soundly. He gawked at first, before replying in kind.

She laughed as she pulled back, gazing at the shell-shocked look on his face.

"Been wanting to do that for ages." With a sexy wink, she sauntered away. "Going to take a shower, sweetie, been wanting to do that too. You can join me if you want." She bit down the rush of anxiety at the thought of being alone again, even if it was only for a few minutes. It would take her awhile to get used to being by herself.

The Doctor couldn't do anything except watch her go, taking a glance at her bum as she left. Hold on, did she say sweetie?

As if on cue the front door behind him swung open and he spun around. There stood River Song in a green shiny dress, her hair up in a bun with little curls dangling around her face.

"Why aren't you dressed?" She said, coming up towards him. The Doctor's eyes had grown wide. He had totally forgotten about River. He felt extremely guilty, as he usually did whenever she was around.

"D-dressed?" He stammered.

"Yes, silly." Suddenly another Doctor, looking just like him except dressed in a top hat and black coat appeared behind her.

"No River, wrong...TARDIS." He added meekly.

"Two of you." She muttered, coming closer. "The mind races."

"No," the future Doctor muttered, grabbing her and pulling her away, "we're going to be late."

"He's taking me to the singing towers of Durilium." River said as she walked out. "He's been promising for ages. Funny how Rose opted not to go." The future Doctor stopped, turning to look back at his former self. The smile faded from his face.

"I-is this the last time we see her? Is this when we say goodbye?" The future Doctor's face was full of pain but he hid it well, as he always did.

"Spoilers." he whispered, before leaving. The present Doctor stood there in silence, all alone, contemplating. He looked to the floor, sadness filling his hearts. He had let himself get so caught up in Rose this past week that he entirely forgot about woman who died to save him.

It was time to make a choice.

* * *

Rose was surprised the Doctor didn't join her after her sultry invitation. She wasn't usually like that, but yet, having a new body seemed to put her in a good mood. The shower still felt fantastic, she'd forgotten what it felt like. She stood in there for about fifteen minutes, doing nothing but letting the water wash over her. Being alone still terrified her, but she made herself stay. It would help her heal, in more ways than one.

As soon as she was ready she got out and pulled on a white fluffy robe. Wondering what the Doctor had decided to do instead, she headed out to the console room. She found the time lord sitting on the captain's chair with his head hanging down, turning the sonic screwdriver over and over in his hands. When he heard her come in he lifted his head.

"We need to talk."

* * *

"Wow." was all Rose muttered when he finally finished telling her about River.

"I don't know what to do." he whispered. "I feel like I'm letting her down." Rose turned towards him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He nodded. "We'll get through this. I'll help you."

"How? It's my fault she dies." Rose didn't answer. The Doctor stood up abruptly, letting her arm drop back to her side. He paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair, much like his last regeneration used to do. "Am I leading her on?" He didn't think he was, but had he unwittingly let River become another Martha Jones? River had mentioned Rose before she left with his future self, but that could mean anything, he had no idea what the future would bring about in terms of relationships. River had never mentioned Rose in the library but yet, hadn't she mentioned something about it getting better?

 _"It's not over for you. You'll see me again. You've got all of that to come. You and me, time and space. You watch us run! And Doctor...have hope. I'm not the only one you'll see again."_

"I don't know." Rose replied quietly. The Doctor quickly turned towards her.

"You're supposed to know what to say!" He nearly shouted at her. He realised how loud his voice was and spoke quieter. "You always know what to say." Rose shook her head.

"It's not my place." He turned away again at that.

"Am I deluding her? Hell, am I deluding myself?" She stood up and came behind him. She couldn't stay silent anymore.

"Doctor, do you care for her?" He spun around.

"Rose I-"

"No. Doctor, do you care for her? Do you want to see her happy, do you want to protect her against everything bad in this world? Do you want her to have the best life she could possibly have in which she has no pain, no suffering, no grief, no heartache, before you have to say goodbye?" He paused before answering.

"Yes."

"If her death is a fixed point in time, then there's no harm in giving her the time of her life before it happens. You go take care of her. Give her the best life she can. I'll be waiting." He looked at his blonde companion ruefully.

"When did you get to be so wise, Rose Tyler?" Back in the past if he had even looked at another woman she'd jump him. Now she was letting him go, at least for a little while? She put a hand on the side of his face, her fingers caressing his cheek bone.

"Living for hundreds of years inside a glass box shows you the important things in life." With that put her hand down, choosing instead to stare into the green eyes she hardly knew, yet the same exact eyes she had known for hundreds of years. She didn't doubt for a minute that he'd come back to her. Her old self would have doubted, but not now. Not ever. He'd made that obviously clear by his actions.

She now saw that proof she'd been dying to see for years but knew now she shouldn't have ever needed.

Wordlessly she left the room and headed up the stairs towards her new bedroom.

The Doctor watched her go, a sad smile on his face. He turned towards the console and set the coordinates for the Lunar University.

Somebody was becoming a professor today.

* * *

 **Text from the future Doctor and River Song taken from the minisode "Last Night", which you can find on YouTube. (Watch part 1: First Night before you watch Last Night)  
**

 **Stay tuned for the epilogue!**


	13. Epilogue - The Start of Something Good

**I never actually realised until I checked that this is the second-longest story I've ever published! (Slowly Losing You beat this by approx 4,000 words) Cool!**

* * *

 _"Doctor, do you care for River? Do you want to see her happy, do you want to protect her against everything bad in this world? Do you want her to have the best life she could possibly have in which she has no pain, no suffering, no grief, no heartache, before you have to say goodbye?" He paused before answering._

 _"Yes."_

 _"If her death is a fixed point in time, then there's no harm in giving her the time of her life before it happens. You go take care of her. Give her the best life she can. I'll be waiting."_

 **Epilogue – The Start of Something Good** _ **  
**_

" _You never know when you're gonna meet someone  
And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone  
You're just walking around and suddenly  
Everything that you thought that you knew about love is gone_

 _You find out it's all been wrong_  
 _And all my scars don't seem to matter anymore  
Cause they led me here to you..."_ _~Daughtry_

"Bloody hell!" Rose shouted after waking up inside her unit. That flesh body had lasted her quite a while, nearly two whole years. "Damn those zygons! Nearly made it."

As she had learned a long time ago, whenever her body was shot, stabbed, or (once) poisoned, her flesh body would dissolve into a puddle and she would immediately wake up in here. And after a few or so minutes would pass by...

Right on cue the door slammed open and the Doctor practically hurled himself in.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Rose spoke from her sitting position. The Doctor's eyes were wide and full of fright. "Hell Doctor, we've gone through this enough times," she said as he came up to the glass. "You think you'd be used to it by now."

"I'll never get used to you dying." He replied, his voice rough and thick. Rose smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise. Hold that thought." Before he could say anything else, she closed her eyes and recreated a flesh body for herself. She knew this machine inside and out now, and could do practically anything she wanted with it.

The Doctor watched, feeling a bit nostalgic of the first time he watched her do this as first her feet formed, followed by her legs and torso, clad in a brown skirt that fell just above her knees and a white tank top with daisies on it. Her arms and neck formed along with her head and dark blonde hair (she had given up the bleached-blonde look years ago). The Doctor gasped as her face finally came into focus.

"Y-you..." He stuttered as she climbed out of the unit. When she had only a few minutes ago looked like her young, twenty-year old self, as she had for years, she now looked nearly forty. He'd never seen her so aged, so mature...so beautiful.

"Yeah." She replied, even her voice seemed to have aged. "I figured it was time for a change. Just like you." She reached up with a slightly wrinkled hand and ran it through his short gray hair. He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch. "It was time to grow up." she whispered.

"Rose," he muttered, his Scottish accent even more defined. "Rose I... _Thank you_." Filled with a rush of love for her, he pushed himself forward and kissed her, long and hard. She replied back, her fingers digging into his back. In a swift move he picked her up and placed her rear on the console. The lights of the TARDIS seemed to hum and flicker, as if approving.

"What about Clara?" Rose said as the Doctor kissed her again.

"Clara can bugger off." He muttered. Sure, he didn't know if he would have been able to solve the mystery of Oswin Oswald without dying if Rose hadn't been there (but even she couldn't have prevented his death on Trenzalore that turned him into this aged man now), but at the moment, nothing else mattered except his incredible Rose.

"Oooh, rude." She replied, laughing.

"I know. Haven't been rude in ages." He grinned at her knowingly, which she couldn't help but return. The Doctor looked at his ageless companion with imploring eyes, waiting for her permission, which she immediately gave. He reached out and lifted her tank top up and off her head and threw it aside. He gazed hungrily at her new body, wanting to explore every inch. He didn't bother to hesitate. That was all his last gangly form had been about but now, he was a 'take what he wanted' kind of guy. Took him a while to figure out who he was this time 'round, but Rose had made that discovery a lot easier than it would have been without her.

 _"I don't make a habit of asking twice."_

 _"No second chances, I'm that sort of a man."_

 _"The man who lies."_

The Doctor kissed her chin, making his way down to her neck and collarbone, planting small kisses as he went.

Everything she had ever done for him seemed to collide inside him and fill him with the utmost desire and passion that he could never define, no matter how hard he tried. This woman had changed his life, and now she had done what appeared to be a small thing by merely changing how she looked, but was in fact one of the most _fantastic_ things she had ever done for him.

To age herself, to "grow up", as she had put it, meant more to him at this moment than nearly anything. He had been so worried at first, after his regeneration, but of course, her being Rose and all, had accepted him without a single negative thought. He didn't think he could love her more after that. He was wrong.

Every single second after had made his love stronger and stronger until he thought he would burst from it all, and it just kept coming. Every single thing she did was amazing, every word, every deed. What had he done to deserve such a wondrous thing? He remembered what Donna Noble had said to him so long ago just after Jenny had died.

 _"Opening your heart up to love will always be a good thing, no matter what happens in the end. It only makes it stronger."_

"Rose Tyler I...I love you." He said as he brought his face back up in front of hers. Rose grinned, the joy on her face uncontainable.

"I love you too." The Doctor closed his eyes, which were filling up with emotion. He placed his forehead against hers and breathed in her indefinable scent.

"How long you gonna stay with me?" He muttered, his voice old and Scottish this time, and wanting, no, needing to hear her same reply. He opened his grey eyes to stare into her shining brown, which held more memories and promises than he could ever imagine.

Rose immediately replied, knowing she would be able to tell the truth this time.

"Forever."

" _I know that its gonna take some time  
I've got to admit that the thought has crossed my mind  
This might end up like it should_

 _And I'm gonna say what I need to say_  
 _And hope to God that it don't scare you away_  
 _Don't wanna be misunderstood_

 _But I'm starting to believe that_  
 _this could be the start of something good..."_

 _ **~Fine~**_

* * *

 **In case you didn't realise, that was my Twelve/Rose contribution there at the end. I hope that satisfied some of you after what happened in my fic "The Last Time" ;)**

 **Thank you to EVERYBODY who took the time to review! I'm now working on the third and final in the "Companion Project" Series (#1: Companion Project, #2: Starlight in Our Souls), called "We Are Only Shattered Illusions", which is one of the darkest stories I've ever written (I'm even scaring myself at times at how dark it is), and a Nine/Rose shipwrecked AU (wish me luck, never written an AU like this before, but I'm taking tips from writer _perfectlyrose_ , she writes the BEST AUs! ((love ya)) **

**Thanks to you all! (hugs)  
**

 **~Kathryn Hart**


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